Driven largely by the success of the Construction and Demolition (C&D) processing plants in Hyderabad, by grouping 65 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) into six clusters, the Telangana government plans to establish similar plants at various locations. 

Officials plan to make the project a system that is economically viable and environmentally sustainable. The concept is to set up one C&D processing plant with a capacity to handle at least 100 tonnes per day for each cluster. Approximately 330 tonnes of waste is produced daily in clusters.

Government Setting Up C&D Processing Plants in City

The proposed plants, along with transportation, storage equipment and vehicles, will be set up at the head of the ULB on the basis of design, development, finance, operation and transition under the public private partnership mode. All waste produced in the nearby ULBs will be transported to the lead ULB plant and processed accordingly.

There is currently no scientific disposal mechanism, resulting in illegal dumping of C&D waste on roadsides, empty plots or land. The plan is to provide a technical, feasible and cost-effective solution to curb illegal dumping of such waste for the production of C&D waste. Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development Arvind Kumar said the new C&D plants are already operational in Hyderabad.

Six C&D plants are being planned for other ULBs on a cluster approach in order to achieve economies of scale. The government will provide 1 to 3 acres of land in the leading ULB municipal limits to set up the plant, depending on the location and waste generation. The contract term will be for 10 years with a provision for extension of five years. 

Since there is no system for managing the C&D waste, the government is unable to take any action against those dumping the waste illegally. More specifically, in order to ensure scientific disposal, bulk waste generators, including contractors and builders, would be used to use the plant's facilities.

The contractor would need to deploy GPS-equipped waste collection and transport vehicles with a provision for an online monitoring system. To prevent any irregularities, both the start and end points of the trips would have to be geo-tagged by GPS. The tipping fee for collection and transport per tonne of waste would be charged to the concessionaire. This will be divided into claimed and unclaimed waste again.

Total 2,000 Tonnes of Wastes Generated

According to officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, nearly 2,000 metric tonnes of C&D waste is produced every day in the capital city. The Jeedimetla processing and recycling facility, set up in collaboration with Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, is capable of recycling 500 metric tonnes of waste per day. The company produces recycled waste, bricks, sand, paver blocks and other materials that are useful in construction work.

By: Shailaja K