The Kerala Local Self-Government Department has issued a set of guidelines for the disposal of construction and demolition waste. The building owner should pay for and deliver the waste at collection centres if the debris is above 20 tonnes, besides remitting a fee for its treatment.
The treatment fee is applicable for construction/building waste weighing between two tonnes and 20 tonnes, or the owner will have to transfer the debris to the collection centre at his/her cost. Waste weighing two tonnes has been excluded from the treatment fee.
The local bodies will collect construction waste from a radius of 5 kilometres through their mobile units and collection centres. The local bodies could roll out this mechanism by themselves or through private partnership or private parties.
A collection centre will cater to more than one district. Collection centres launched under the public-private partnership model will be provided land to process 100 tonnes of waste a day. The individual/company will be responsible for the maintenance of the machinery, and the revenue will be generated through treatment fees and sale of recycled materials.
The department has also set norms for setting up of private treatment plants. A private plant should have at least 75 cents, and should be at least 100 metres away from public buildings, houses or places of worship.
The guidelines mandated that recycled materials should be utilised for 20 per cent of construction works of government buildings, and for the renovation of buildings that have to be demolished. This norm is applicable to construction works of buildings located within 100 metres of the collection centre.
A district-level monitoring committee with district collector and Suchitwa Mission coordinator as the chairperson and convenor, respectively, will finalise the treatment fee and capacity of treatment plants. The government will also look at the possibility of converting existing quarries and crusher units to collection centres. Minister for Local Self-Government M V Govindan said using recycled materials would help in resolving the issue of waste menace to a large extent.
