Construction debris chokes Gurgaon

Despite growth in real estate, there is no policy to deal with it

July 21, 2014 09:56 am | Updated 09:56 am IST - GURGAON:

Construction waste dumped in a residential area in Gurgaon. Photo: Special Arrangement

Construction waste dumped in a residential area in Gurgaon. Photo: Special Arrangement

Dumped along the roads, in the water recharge bodies and the Aravallis, the construction and demolition (C&D) waste across the city poses serious civic, health and traffic related problems in the Millennium City, besides adversely impacting the environment.

Ironically, Gurgaon has registered huge growth in the real estate sector over the past few years, but the city has no prescribed policy to handle its C&D waste.

Even as the proposed C&D waste treatment plant on the outskirts of the city awaits a green signal from the Ministry of Environment and Forest for almost four years now, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), succumbing to pressure from citizens groups, designated four places to dump the rubble a few months ago. But the announcement remains only on paper.

“Those dumping rubble at these sites are charged Rs.500 per visit and need to shell out another Rs.1,000 in transport charges. Why will one pay and still come all the way to these sites on the outskirts of the city to dump the rubble? They dump it at a place of convenience and drive away. No serious action is possible against them in the absence of any prescribed policy. The penalty levied is also nominal,” said MCG Chief Engineer B.S. Singroha.

Even as MCG officials pass the buck, citizens groups blame it on the choice of the place itself.

“With the cost of land being so high in Gurgaon, the MCG has chosen a plot under Aravalli notification for the proposed C&D waste plant. Everybody knows that the Ministry will never grant permission for the plot in question. We suggested an alternative plot in Begumpur Khatola, but it did not get MCG’s nod for reasons best known to them,” said Ruchika Sethi, a member of citizens’ group Clean Gurgaon.

MCG Commissioner Praveen Kumar had at a workshop earlier this year promised to launch a helpline and a WhatsApp number for lodging complaints about unauthorised dumping of rubble, but it never happened.

The sight of rubble strewn near residential townships is now commonplace along the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, in the Aravallis and along the roads. It chokes drains, acts as breeding ground for mosquitoes in the monsoon and is a traffic hazard when it extends up to the road. When this rubble gets mixed with municipal waste, recycling it becomes extremely difficult. It also often gets dumped in low-lying areas, where it chokes wetlands and ponds.

According to Avikal Somvanchi, a senior researcher at Centre for Science and Environment, it is actually a resource being wasted. “C&D waste is actually a huge resource that can be recycled and reused for construction purpose. There is so much of hue and cry over increasing cost of construction material and this resource is lying unused in our backyard. Singapore recycles 98 per cent of its C&D waste.”

In India, however, there is no prescribed policy on tacking the C&D waste. In 2005, Mumbai laid down some guidelines, but there were never implemented. However, Delhi successfully set up a plant in Burari for recycling of construction waste in 2009, said Mr. Somvanchi.

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