NEW DELHI: To check pollution caused by large-scale construction across the country, the government has come up with a set of rules whereby permission for construction will be given only when a complete construction and demolition waste management plan is presented to the local authority.
The Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016, notified on Tuesday, will ensure that construction and demolition waste is properly collected, recycled and reused, by fixing responsibility on all stakeholders, including builders and municipal bodies. At present, the construction and demolition waste generated in the country is about 530 million tonnes annually.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the basis of these rules is to recover, recycle and reuse the waste generated through construction and demolition, which was in reality not waste, but a resource. “Permission for construction will be given only when the complete construction and demolition waste management plan is presented”, he said. The minister also pointed out that those who generate large amounts of waste will have to pay relevant charges for collection, transportation, processing and disposal, as notified by the authorities concerned,” he said.
As per the rules, the local bodies will have to utilise 10-20 per cent material from construction and demolition waste in municipal and government contracts. “Segregating construction and demolition waste and depositing it at collection centres for processing will now be the responsibility of every waste generator,” said Javadekar.