C&D Waste and Construction Dust Management

Date: June 6-7, 2019 

Under: Trainings 

A two-day programme titled, ‘Specialized training programme and exposure visit on framing strategies for construction and demolition waste, and construction dust management for clean air in the non-attainment cities’ was organized by the Sustainable Buildings and Habitat programme in association with Clean Air Campaign in New Delhi. It was attended by 12 regulators from pollution control boards and urban local bodies which convened from three states - Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. 

The programme aimed to sensitize the participants on the looming problem of construction dust, and construction and demolition (C&D) waste management via showcasing the on-ground practices in Delhi and discussing the strategies available to efficiently control dust and manage the waste by turning it into a resource and closing the loop. The training had a short classroom session where participants were apprised with policy, politics and science of the issue, followed by extensive field trips. 

In the classroom exercise, Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, CSE briefed participants on clean air action plans which the participating state have adopted. Rajneesh Sareen, programme director, Sustainable Buildings and Habitat programme provided an overview of the present state of the resource management around the world and making the case for circularity where waste is efficiently managed and turned into a resource. Avikal Somvanshi and Anurag Verma, elaborated on air pollution concerns associated with unregulated construction activities and mismanagement of C&D waste. They highlighted the extent of the problem, existing policy remedies and lacuna in their implementation. Strategies to fix these were discussed and deliberated on. 

Field trips: 

1. Mechanized Street Sweeping machines at Dulevo, Noida: Manufacturer of Industrial and road sweeping and cleaning equipment located in Noida.

• Learned how mechanized street sweeping works
• Learned economics and feasibility of employing mechanized street sweeping in Indian cities
• Demonstration of mechanized street sweeping 

2. C&D waste processing facility at Burari: It is the first and biggest C&D waste processing facility in India owned by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

• Learned about the logistics of setting up a C&D waste processing plant
• Learned about the process of recycling
• Learned about the products made from recycled C&D waste 

3. DMRC project site at Najafgarh:Delhi Metro is the most extensive metro network in the country. It is also celebrated for its good construction dust control practices.

• Learned about dust control measures taken by DMRC
• Learned about on-site air quality monitoring
• Learned about on-site building material and waste storage to minimize dust like wheel washing of all incoming and outgoing vehicles 

The workshop concluded with a round of feedback from the participants. The training helped the city officials to better understand the requirements and precautions they need to take while implementing provisions of C&D waste rules 2016. The content and structure of the programme was highly appreciated and there were requests to organize more such training for city officials.