Mumbai: In a major step to curb illegal dumping of construction debris, the BMC has started 'debris on call' service for the bulk generators i.e the private builders and developers. Simplifying the services, the BMC has added the 'debris on call' section in AutoDCR- the online system where the builders submit their proposals.
Notably, Mumbai is currently generating as much as 8,500 tonnes of construction debris per day, which is more than per day garbage generation (7,000 tonnes). The high amount of construction debris is due to excessive infrastructure projects in the city, including road works.
Currently, the bulk generators can dump the construction debris outside city limits with Solid Waste Management (SWM) department's permission. However, many contractors dump the debris roadside illegally to avoid transportation expenses. BMC currently has two successfully running debris processing plants with capacity of around 2.18 lakh per year.
"The 'debris on call' facility is just a click away for the bulk generators. The builders can transport the debris themselves or BMC appointed contractors will transport it to the processing plants at Taloja and Dahisar. If builders transport the debris to processing plant themselves, they have 50% discount in charges. The processing plants capacity per day is 1200 tonnes, which the BMC is planning to increase," said Kiran Dighavkar, deputy municipal corporation, SWM.
The Taloja plant is dedicated for city area (Colaba to Sion) and eastern suburbs (Kurla to Mulund). While the Dahisar plant is used western suburbs (Bandra to Dahisar). The charges for transportation and processing debris from city area and eastern suburbs will be Rs 1,425 per ton. While the charges for western suburbs is 1,415 per ton. However, if the bulk generator opts to transport debris to processing plants themselves, the charges levied will be Rs 715 and Rs 710 respectively.
The decision of including 'debris of call' facility for bulk generators was taken after the service ran successfully among minor construction debris generators, which are mostly availed by citizens or smaller projects.
The service is available at a toll-free number 1800-202-6364 for Mumbai City and Eastern Suburbs and 1800-210-9976 for Western Suburbs between 8.00 am to 8.00 pm. The citizens can also register for the servics online through 'MyBMC' mobile app which is available 24/7.
Dighavkar added that the facility will prove to be enviornment friendly and decrease authorisation dumping too. The AutoDCR facility will majorly prove useful for redevelopment projects, where buildings are demolished and debris continue lying for days or are dumped outside city limits.
