It has been a year since the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation okayed the Construction and Demolition (C&D) and De-silting (Management and Disposal) Rules. But the rules are clearly not enough to keep roads free of construction waste and huge mounds of debris. Newsline finds that with some repair or construction work going on in every second lane, dumped debris is further choking up the already-congested daily traffic.

Location: Approach road to Anand Nagar, located behind Oshiwara police station, off New Link Road, Jogeshwari (W), K-West ward.

Work was initiated last month to repair the local Stormwater drains in preparation for the monsoons. The result: Heaps of excavated waste occupy half the street. Add to this, piles of C&D waste dumped regularly from other construction sites, usually at night. Mahesh Narang, chairman, Sai Siddhi Co-operative Society (Proposed) tells us how this causes a traffic
bottleneck daily.

Location: Patel Estate Road, off SV Road, next to the Jogeshwari Telephone Exchange, K-West ward.

"Is this a dumping ground?" asks a furious GH Moriwala , a resident of the Jamuna-Amrut Co-operative Housing Society on Patel Estate Road. Though repairs commenced almost three months ago, not much effort has been taken to clear the resultant debris. A huge signboard, probably denoting the road's name, lies turtle covering a quarter of the street.

The Road Monitoring Committee, which supervises such work, is missing from the scene. Debris can be found scattered at regular intervals all the way down to the Jogeshwari station, making this a harrowing ride for daily commuters and public transport operators alike.

Location: Jaisukhlal Mehta Road , Santacruz (West), off SV Road. Kunal Jakharia complains of huge piles of debris accumulating right outside the boundary wall of his building 'Panorama', due to road widening efforts for the last one month. "They excavate the other side of the road and deposit it here. They ripped our telephone wires the other day during the process. It's such an ugly sight. They do clear it once every two to three days, but that's not enough."

Location: Tilak Road, SV Road junction, next to Asha Parekh Nursing Home. Rajubhai Gaekwad, who works at the nursing home's chemist shop, complains of the inconvenience caused to commuters and customers alike by debris around the exposed trench next to his shop. At least a month has gone by in this fashion." How are my customers supposed to enter,"? he queries.

Implementation of the C&D rules, which the BMC chalked out with the help of local NGOs, is still a far cry, says Vinay Somani from the NGO Karmyog. He points out that no awareness has been created about the issue either. "Much
water has passed under the bridge since March 2006. The MCGM has to answer now," says Somani. Chief Engineer (Solid Waste Management--MCGM) RK Markandeya claims that the C&D rules have been implemented to an extent. When asked about the crawling pace of clearing debris, he said: "Fines are levied whenever violations are detected", adding that almost Rs two lakh is collected as fines everyday.

"We have invited tenders last month and will soon appoint agencies to transport and deposit the debri at dumping grounds. Till date, builders were making their own arrangements and the rest was being managed by the BMC. We are doing our best," Markandeya signs off curtly.

Publication : IE; Section : News; Pg : 5; Date : 29/4/07

URL : http://in.news.yahoo.com/070428/48/6f4c3.html