Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is looking for an empty quarry site in the southern part of the city to establish a construction and demolition waste recycling plant.

With no proper mechanism to effectively deal with over 2000 tonnes of debris generated each day, it is often dumped on streets, lakes or parks, which has taken a toll on the health of over 10 million people.

“We are looking for an 18-20-acre quarry and the establishment of this plant would be completed in about six months," Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner (solid waste management) in the BBMP said.

For Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), effectively dealing with construction debris is one of the priorities as listed in its 41-point action plan.

Earlier, a similar project was announced in Kannur. The project is yet to take off and has left the city with no real solution to deal with construction waste.

“The plant in Kannur is taking longer than expected as it was a new concept and says that the civic agency will make it operational in about a month’s time. Post completion, the two plants would have a capacity of 1000 tonnes each," Khan added.

As a consequence of these delays, increasing vehicular pollution and spike in construction activities, city’s air quality has become worse over decades.

Vehicular emissions are one of the biggest contributors to Bengaluru’s air pollution, followed by construction activities, according to the regulatory authorities.

Other cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai have also seen a dip in air and water quality over the years due to rapid urbanisation, mass migration, increasing vehicles, eroding green cover due to unplanned growth and over exploitation of existing natural resources.

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