More waste processing plants? This time to handle construction debris

We are preparing a comprehensive plan to address the issue of C&D waste, a senior BSWML official said

The BBMP is planning to set up five new Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste processing plants in the city under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Even as the civic body struggles to clear close to 1,400 tonnes of C&D material, the Bangalore Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) — created to handle the city’s solid waste — is working out details to set up four plants of 500 tonnes per day (TPD) capacity and one with 1,000 TPD.

“We are preparing a comprehensive plan to address the issue of C&D waste. Now, the processing plants are located at one end of the city and hence many of them are reluctant to use them owing to the cost of transportation. Smaller plants at different parts of the city will attract people,” a senior BSWML official said.

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However, a worker from one of the plants set up under a similar PPP model told DH that it hardly received 10per cent of its processing capacity.

“Though the BBMP estimates that the city produces over 2,500 tonnes of C&D waste, we hardly receive 100-200 tonnes a day,” said the worker who did not want to be named.

Experts believed that better enforcement and regulation of law is needed. “Many of the bulk generators just file a cosmetic submission on the amount of C&D waste generated and how it was disposed of. There is a need to verify these submissions and see where this waste is going. In fact, we do not even track where the C&D waste from government projects is dumped,” said Sandhya Narayan, member, Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT).

She added that the new processing plants will not resolve the issue unless officials fix the gaps in the collection and transportation of C&D waste. “Though there is a plant on the outskirts, collection and transportation are still a problem,” she said.

Rampant illegal dumping

BBMP officials blame rampant illegal dumping for the problem. “We cannot guard every road round-the-clock. People tend to dump C&D waste in isolated places during late night hours,” said BBMP Chief Marshal Rajbir Singh.

Marshals observed such illegal dumping happening in lakebeds, poorly lit roads, and vacant plots. “We make sure we penalise them heavily when found during the act. But it is difficult to catch them,” Singh added.