The Delhi Master Plan 2021 should make it mandatory for each zone to have a designated area for waste disposal, said Sunita Narain, Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment on Monday
Ms. Narain said: “The new Master Plan needs to have an environment service zone so that no zonal plan can be passed on disposal of liquid or solid waste without its approval.”
Expressing concern over city dwellers’ reluctance to have waste disposal plants near their houses, she said: “As cities are fast expanding, we would be confronted with a situation where there would be no outskirts where waste material can be dumped. People living in downmarket areas will start complaining about why people living in rich localities cannot take care of their waste material. Why can’t we have well managed waste management plants, which can collect, store and dispose waste? In the new Master Plan, all zonal plans need to be revised.”
Ms. Narain’s comments came during a daylong conference on “Waste to Resource: Addressing Construction and Demolition Waste in Cities” at India Habitat Centre here.
Illustrating the advantages of rainwater harvesting , Ms. Narain said the Indore Municipal Corporation charges less property tax from houses which have provision for rainwater harvesting.
“Houses which have rainwater harvesting save the cost for municipalities. Similarly, we need to have a methodology for identifying a green building. The green certificate should be given after people have started residing in these building. The certificate would point how much electricity and water is being used in the building.”
Pointing out that natural resources are limited, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority chairman Bhure Lal said builders need to realise that land cannot be created and they need to ponder from where they would “procure resources for building residential complexes”.
“The need of the hour is to protect environment and ecology. We have to lay down specifications for water bodies and roads. There has to be judicious use of natural resources.”
