Gurugram likely to get its first C&D waste treatment plant soon

Gurugram: It was in May 2017 that the foundation stone of city's first construction and demolition (C&D) waste treatment plant was laid by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG). That time it was stated that the plant will begin to function in the month of December. The work on the project was, however, stalled after the environmentalists raised the issue that the three and a half acre area was the natural reserve for birds and filed a petition at the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

After getting the clearance from the court, the MCG officials now assure that the plant will begin to function soon and have also expressed a possibility of the operations commencing in the first week of March. The plant is proposed to treat over 300 tonnes of C&D waste and will be functional under the Public Private Partnership model. The recycled waste will create raw materials like ceramic, cement bricks stones and sand and will be used by officials in various construction projects of MCG.

The MCG has identified various construction sites in the city from where it will collect the waste and transporting to the waste treatment plant at Basai. Even though we have set a deadline for setting up the plant in one year, I have been told that the first product will start coming out within six months.

The recycled waste will be used by the MCG in setting up tiles in the city. In a city where a lot of pollution is created through construction waste, the setting of the first C&D waste treatment plant will be extremely useful in decreasing the pollution levels in the city. All the choking of drains due to construction waste will also be reduced to a great deal, "said a senior official from MCG.

From 2013 onwards the MCG has been planning to open the C&D waste treatment plant, however various hurdles prevented the officials to go ahead with their plans. In 2014 the MCG officials planned to open the waste treatment plant at Begum Pur Khatola.

It, however, had to abandon the plan after the protest from the locals. It was in mid 2016 that the alternative site at Basai was chosen by the MCG officials. The plant when operational can be of great significance in the city where it is estimated that 600 tonnes of construction waste is generated daily.