Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste, thousands of times more than the daily processing capacity, will be accumulated by the time the C&D waste processing plants begin operations at the two designated locations in the city.
November is set as the deadline for installation of plants by the concessionaire agency Ramky Enviro Engineers, at Fathullahguda and Jeedimetla, the chosen locations for the plants. “Weigh bridges have been installed at both locations in order to weigh the debris reaching the sites. We have obtained consent for establishment from the Pollution Control Board for setting up the plants. Supply orders too have been given for the machinery,” explained an official from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Daunting task
Vast gap between the existing C&D waste in the city and the combined capacity of the plants makes the processing a daunting task. Close to two lakh metric tonnes of C&D waste has already been collected and transported to the plant sites from various locations of the city. As per conservative estimates by GHMC, the city generates 450 to 500 metric tonnes of C&D waste per day.
As per another report by the Centre for Fly Ash Research And Management (C-FARM), New Delhi, which conducted a joint study with the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), the construction debris generated by the city is over 750 tonnes per day.
The capacity of the plants to be set up is 300 tonnes each per day, which can be augmented up to 675 tonnes per day eventually. “What worries us is the amount of legacy waste piling up before the start of the plant. As of now, it is being stored at the site for processing when the plants become operational,” says the official.
Legacy waste
Legacy waste is the term used to describe the existing C&D waste already dumped indiscriminately on the road side, vacant plots, lakes and the Musi river. The Concessionaire and the GHMC together are collecting and transporting over 2,000 tonnes of C&D waste per day. “After recent instructions by the GHMC Commissioner to keep the city clean of debris, such collection has accelerated,” the official said.
Even if both the plants run continuously and simultaneously to their optimum capacity, it will take about six months to finish processing the existing waste at the sites. Needless to say, more and more debris will keep piling up with each passing day, which renders the task even more daunting.
Two more plants
Two more locations, Kotwalguda and Mallapur, have been finalised for setting up the plants, so as to decentralise the operations. However, sites are yet to be identified at these locations.
The waste may be used to produce coarse aggregate (kankar), fine aggregate (sand), ready mix concrete, bricks/ blocks, paver blocks, tiles, kerb stones and prefabricated slabs. The concessionaire is being paid ₹342 per tonne as tipping fee for collection of debris through 22 vehicles. GHMC has deployed 90 more vehicles to speed up the work.
