The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has directed Maradu municipality to adhere to provisions of Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules-2016, if and when the four apartment complexes in Maradu are demolished in accordance with the Supreme Court order.
The rules deal with environment-friendly ways of disposing of or recycling construction debris and other materials of demolished structures. Local bodies, the agencies that have to spearhead the demolition and management of debris, are duty bound to adhere to its provisions, said a senior PCB official.
The debris cannot be heaped or discarded in vacant spaces due to environmental and health concerns. On its part, the PCB has been doing awareness programmes on provisions of the legislation, since it is a regulatory and supervisory body, it is learnt.
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The scientific methods to recycle the debris include breaking them down into small particles, which could be used to construct roads or for civil structures.
The steel within concrete too can be reused. The onus is on the municipality to identify vacant land to do all these processes, the official said.
Responding to the issue, Anil N.T., Chief Engineer in-Charge of PWD (Buildings wing), said that the department had not encountered demolition involving such massive structures. The method chosen to demolish the structures must not in any way affect nearby buildings, he said.
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Sekhar Kuriakose, member secretary of the State Disaster Management Authority, said that it was up to the PCB to decide about the debris.
“The KSDMA has no protocols or regulations with respect to demolition. The PWD has a code as to how to decommission a building, how it is to be demolished and what safety features are to be followed. Kerala has a long history of how buildings are to be commissioned and demolished, and there are standards for construction safety,” he said.