Indian cities choke on construction, demolition waste: NGO

NEW DELHI: Indian cities are choking due to their own construction and demolition waste, a green NGO warned and asked authorities to find immediate solutions to recycle and reuse such materials causing serious environmental consequences.

"The government must immediately notify standards for this material, use legal provisions on use of alternative material in the interim, make developers responsible for good construction practices, onsite segregation of waste, reuse and disposal and impose waste tax to minimize waste generation," the Centre for Science and Environment ( CSE) said in a release.

While construction necessitates enormous amount of construction material that accounts for about half of all materials used, it is also responsible for generating about half of the solid waste that degrades the land and environment, the CSE said after a day long conference on "Waste to Resource".

"Given the fact that 70 per cent of the buildings that will stand in India in 2030 are yet to be built, this environmental cost will only compound with the anticipated construction boom unless immediate steps are taken to recycle and reuse construction waste and turn it into a resource," the CSE said.

The conference was jointly organised by the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) and CSE.

Key stakeholders including Union Urban Development Ministry, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Central Building Research Institute, National Council for Cement and Building Materials, Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, leading municipalities from different cities, experts and members of civil society.