Centre restricts use of extracted soil in highway construction
Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has issued policy guidelines for use of inert material in construction of national highways as part of sustainable construction.
- Sep 26, 2024,
- Updated Sep 26, 2024 1:22 PM IST
To ensure sustainable construction of highways, the Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has directed builders to use processed industrial waste, steel slag, urban solid waste and plastic waste for construction and extracted soil can only be used after such options are exhausted.
According to policy guidelines issued this week, the construction of the embankment of highways requires a huge amount of soil, which at times is required to be procured from agriculture fields. There is a need for sustainable construction of highways that have minimal impact on the environment and ecology in the procurement of materials.
The disposal of solid waste generated on a daily basis is a major environmental challenge being faced in urban areas across the country. As per a rough assessment, around 10,000 hectares of land are locked in dump sites.
To resolve the problem of disposal of urban solid waste and the mounting requirements of the earth for the construction of embankments, MoRTH through NHAI has undertaken two pilot projects for the utilisation of inert material, which is one of the major components of solid waste management. The two pilot projects were done at Delhi-NCR on Urban Extension Road and DND Sohnapur of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway.
“In view of successful utilisation of inert material in construction of embankment MoRTH has decided to plan alternative use of this generated solid waste. The major component of solid waste is inert soil, which is generated by bio-remediation and bio-mining of this legacy waste,” said the policy guidelines.
To promote the use of inert soil, the ministry has proposed that the DPR (Detailed project report) consultant would examine the availability of landfill sites on the Gati Shakti portal where a layer of such sites is available. An enabling provision may be made in the technical schedule mandating the use of inert soil in the construction of highway embankments wherever it is provided on-site by local bodies.
To ensure sustainable construction of highways, the Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has directed builders to use processed industrial waste, steel slag, urban solid waste and plastic waste for construction and extracted soil can only be used after such options are exhausted.
According to policy guidelines issued this week, the construction of the embankment of highways requires a huge amount of soil, which at times is required to be procured from agriculture fields. There is a need for sustainable construction of highways that have minimal impact on the environment and ecology in the procurement of materials.
The disposal of solid waste generated on a daily basis is a major environmental challenge being faced in urban areas across the country. As per a rough assessment, around 10,000 hectares of land are locked in dump sites.
To resolve the problem of disposal of urban solid waste and the mounting requirements of the earth for the construction of embankments, MoRTH through NHAI has undertaken two pilot projects for the utilisation of inert material, which is one of the major components of solid waste management. The two pilot projects were done at Delhi-NCR on Urban Extension Road and DND Sohnapur of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway.
“In view of successful utilisation of inert material in construction of embankment MoRTH has decided to plan alternative use of this generated solid waste. The major component of solid waste is inert soil, which is generated by bio-remediation and bio-mining of this legacy waste,” said the policy guidelines.
To promote the use of inert soil, the ministry has proposed that the DPR (Detailed project report) consultant would examine the availability of landfill sites on the Gati Shakti portal where a layer of such sites is available. An enabling provision may be made in the technical schedule mandating the use of inert soil in the construction of highway embankments wherever it is provided on-site by local bodies.