JOIN USKSPCB chief advocates debris to replace sand
Construction and demolition waste (CnD) could be effectively used as an alternative to river sand, and even recycled for construction activities, Vaman Acharya, Chairperson of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, has said.
“The construction sites in the City generate 300 to 400 truckloads of construction and demolition waste everyday. This is presently being dumped on a 20-acre plot owned by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) at Mallasandra, off Hesarghatta. This could be a replacement for natural sand,” Acharya said here on Friday.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the seminar on ‘Alternatives to river sand — A Sustainable Approach’, organised by the KSPCB and Indian Concrete Institute (ICI)- Karnataka, Bangalore Centre.
The BBMP and KSPCB opened the old quarries for dumping a month ago. The amount of waste dumped so far has not been quantified and no fee is being imposed for dumping. “We will start imposing a fee soon, if industries do not manage their waste. In the meantime, KSPCB will also tie up with industries to set up stone-crushing and waste-converting units,” he said.
Ash generated from iron industries can be cooled and used as alternative sand too. Red mud, obtained from Bauxite industry, can also be utilised.
“Jindal is one of the industries in Karnataka which is making alternative sand. It is also transporting and selling it. Waste generated from granite industries and pharmaceutical industries should also be converted to inert waste,” he suggested. V Ramachandra, vice president, ICI-South, said that after agriculture, construction sector was the second biggest industry in the country. Around four crore people are directly involved in the sector besides 14 crore who get indirect employment.
He said that Kerala was the first state to face a shortage of sand.
“Now, they are importing sand from Vietnam and exploring the use of marine sand. Karnataka too would reach this stage soon if alternatives not are used,” he said.
C S Vishwanatha, Chairperson of Civic - Aid Technoclinic Private Limited and former chairperson, Task Force for Quality Assurance in Construction, Government of Karnataka, explained that many private companies were using alternative sand for construction, but government agencies were yet to use them for construction and laying roads.