Waste levy on builders?

Waste levy on builders?
BENGALURU







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The state pollution control board is proposing a monthly levy of between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000 on apartments outside Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) area, as a way to fund environment protection.

The amount of ‘environment management cost’, determined according to locality, will have to be paid by the apartment owners’ associations for waste management and rainwater harvesting facilities.

Speaking on the sidelines of a day-long workshop — “Sustainable construction: Beyond environmental regulations” here on Wednesday, the board’s chief environmental officer M.D.N Simha said the proposal will be forwarded soon for government approval.

Former director with the ministry of environment and forest and professor of architecture in Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, S. Shiva Kumar said the state government cannot let the construction sector be free of regulations essential to tackle urban environmental problems.

“The construction industry across the world is growing at a rapid pace and accounts for 40 per cent of global energy consumption and 25 per cent of timber production. The construction sector must apply self regulation to protect the environment,” Mr Shiva Kumar added. TOP IN CO2 EMISSION Bengaluru rural topped the chart for carbon dioxide emission in the report released on Wednesday by the board’s chairman Dr H.C. Sharath Chandra.

The report “Greenhouse gas inventory of Road transport sector of seven districts of Karnataka” — Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Mysore and Ramanagara — showed Bengaluru rural generates 0.34 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. TIE-UP The board has made it mandatory for apartment owners to tie-up with private solid waste management companies to mitigate the waste management problems faced in Bengaluru. Dr Sharath Chandra said a circular in this regard has been sent to all apartments in the city.