Govt proposes to use urban solid waste in road construction

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has proposed to use inorganic solid waste in the construction of highway road projects, following the success of pilot projects. This was the long impending task on the hit list of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. 

According to an official memorandum, to resolve the problem of disposal of urban solid waste and limited land availability for construction of embankments, MoRTH through NHAI has undertaken two pilot projects for utilization of inert material which is one of the major components of municipal solid waste.

"Given successful utilisation of inert material in the construction of embankment, MoRTH has decided to plan alternative use of this generated solid waste in highway road projects in compliance to solid waste management rules," the memorandum added.

The first pilot project has been carried out in Delhi-NCR on the Urban Extension road and DND Sohna spur of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

In the second pilot project, inert solid waste material was used on the Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway.

In both cases, the construction of the embankment has been carried out as per the laid down procedure with strict quality control.

The office memorandum noted that the disposal of solid waste generated daily is a major environmental challenge being faced in urban areas across the country. As per a rough assessment, around 10,000 hectares of land is locked in dump sites.

Due to limited land availability, these landfill sites are on the verge of attaining maximum capacity and pose serious environmental and health hazards, it added As per the draft document, MoRTH has taken up large-scale development of highways including greenfield projects across the country. The construction of embankment of highways requires huge amounts of soil which at times is required to be procured from agriculture fields.

With PTI Inputs