New green norms for builders to curb dust

With dust particles significantly contributing to air pollution, the government on Tuesday released a set of rules that mandate builders to reduce the dust flow from construction sites.

Moreover, the new set of norms prohibits dumping on the roadside and focuses on recycling the debris.

Big builders who generate large amounts of waste are required to submit a construction waste management plan to the urban local bodies to get approvals. For existing projects, they will not receive the completion certificates unless the debris is properly disposed, said an official.

Littering, obstruction to public drains, water bodies, traffic and direct dumping in landfill sites are prohibited. States will have to provide specific sites for dumping the waste before they are recycled and land use for those sites would not change.

Dust particles flowing from construction and demolition sites contribute to more than 20% of the particulate matter responsible for deteriorating ambient air quality.

According to the new rules, construction sites are to be covered and barricaded to control dust; builders will have to sprinkle water to reduce dust flow and construction materials have to be transported in covered vehicles.

The new construction and waste management rules 2016 made it mandatory for the states to procure and utilise 10-20% materials, made from recycled debris in non-load-bearing applications like kerb stones, drain covers and pavement blocks.

The cities and towns will have to set up recycled plants, in a public-private partnership. As many as 54 cities with more than 10 lakh population have been given 18 months of time to set up the plant, whereas cities with 5-10 lakh population will have two years time. Smaller cities have been given three years time.

Environment minister Prakash Javadekar claimed that states were consulted and they were on-board. One such plant commissioned by the municipal authorities is operational in Delhi and two more are coming up.

“Without any rules, the debris is dumped in open spaces, drains, rivers, forest areas, landfills and roadside. It is unscientific dumping. These are not actually waste but resources. The basis of our new rules is recover, recycle and reuse. We can make tiles, pipes from it to create value. So we have come out with the new rules,” he said.

There are 76,044 real estate companies in India, out which 17,431 are in Delhi, 17,010 in West Bengal and 11,160 in Maharashtra, according to a database maintained by the Urban Development Ministry.