Delhi gets moving on four debris recycling plants

The department has identified four sites — Libaspur, one near the Nizamuddin Bridge, Tikri Kalan and Kapashera. A PWD official said, “Each facility will have a capacity to recycle 150 tonnes of debris per day. We will provide the land while the bidder will have to bear the construction cost. The contract, modeled on a PPP enterprise to begin with, will be for three years and will be awarded to that bidder who offers the highest royalty.”

According to PWD officials, on an average, the agency generates 300 tonnes of construction and demolition waste per day.

Explaining how the facility will work, a PWD official said, “Apart from the PWD, other government agencies and even private builders will be able to avail the facility free of cost to begin with. We are estimating the capacity of each plant to generate 30,000 bricks after recycling the debris. On a monthly basis, we are estimating the total production of bricks at 7.5 lakh a month per plant. Even though the cost of depositing the waste will be free, both the agency as well as the contractor will benefit from the enterprise. In case the contractor fails to run the facility or under-utilises it, it will have to pay the department the minimum rental of the land thereby ensuring a check on the contractor.”

“We want to ensure that each government agency contributes its bit towards maintaining a safe and clean environment. As of now, most of the waste is dumped by various agencies both government and private on the roads or along the Yamuna riverbed, which becomes the responsibility of the PWD,” the official said, adding that priority will be given to the PWD to dump its waste.

Only if there is further capacity to accommodate debris, will government agencies and private builders be allowed.

Sarvagya Kumar Srivastava, Chief Engineer (PWD), said, “The agency is committed to doing its bit for the environment. The facility should be up and running by March 2015. The plants will be environment-friendly and in accordance with Euro norms.”