BMC to file report on debris management in Supreme Court

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will file an affidavit before the Supreme Court on measures taken to manage construction debris after the top court lifted a ban on new constructions in March 2018. The six months relief given by the court will end on September 14. Now, the civic body will have to apprise the court about present status of waste management in the city.

However, over 600 projects received permissions in the city after the court lifted ban on new constructions.

In March 2017, the Supreme Court had lifted a two-year old ban on new construction, but with a condition that the civic body had to identify places where debris will be managed scientifically. There has been a complete prohibition of dumping debris in landfills.

The civic body identified 10 places in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai where developers can manage debris in a scientific way. The court had given relief for six months which will end on September 14. The reason for ban on new construction was civic body's inability to process and dispose off around 1,400 metric tonnes of debris generated daily in the city. The landfills in city have already been exhausted to their capacities.

According to an official from the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Department of BMC, the civic body has further brought down daily waste generation in the city to 7,200 MT per day as opposed to 7,500 MT per day in the last six months.

"We took a number of measures from waste segregation to waste management at source, which was made mandatory in housing societies and commercial units having spread over 20,000 square feet area," said the official. "We took actions against around 800 establishments and collected a fine of more than Rs 20 lakh, he added.

Rajkumar Sharma, President, Advanced Locality Management and Networking Action Committee (ALMANAC) said that the civic body only made a system of debris management after the court lifted the ban. However, he added that there is lack of monitoring. "The civic body is relying on what the contractor or the architect is claiming. But there is no mechanism to check whether the debris is being dumped or managed at designated place," said Sharma.

However, according to the special cell of Building Proposal Department, over 10,015 cubic metric tonnes of debris has been managed scientifically at various designated places.