NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has conveyed its displeasure to the Central Public Work Department (CPWD) as the latter failed to meet the off-take target of utilisation of construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycled products for three consecutive years.
In a recent review, a senior official of the ministry chairing the meeting noted that ‘overall performance of CPWD has been poor over the preceding years due to lack of will, vision and action plan’.
Dissatisfied with the conduct of the department, the official also took note of the fact that only three of its divisions had submitted details of the quantity of C&D waste recycled products.
During the current financial year, the CPWD has used 25,419 metric tonnes (MT) C&D waste recycled products against the targeted off-take of 1.1 lakh MT, which is about 23%. In 2023-24 and 2022-23, the consumption was 7,276 MT and 1,173 MT, respectively. However, the targeted annual off-take was 1.1 lakh MT.
One of the reasons for not achieving the target cited by the department was the imposition of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the national capital. However, the MoHUA was not convinced. “The policymakers themselves are not implementing the targets set by them,” the ministry official remarked.
GRAP is an emergency response mechanism for the entire NCR based on average AQI levels that brings a slew of restrictions into force including bans on trucks, construction and suspension of outdoor activities.
The Government has been pushing for increased consumption of recycled C&D waste products such as paver blocks, kerb stones, blocks, paver tiles, recycled aggregates, and manufactured sand under its flagship programme Swachh Bharat Mission. The officials said an MoHUA secretary will soon hold a meeting on the matter, and thereafter, another meeting is proposed in the Prime Minister’s Office on the issue.
Meanwhile, each region and zone of the CPWD has been asked to prepare action plans or road maps with monthly, quarterly, and annual off-take targets to maximise utilisation of the C&D products.