MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is working on a policy to make precast construction mandatory for real estate firms in Mumbai in order to reduce air pollution, state environment minister Pankaja Munde said on Saturday.
The proposed policy, which will apply to private and public construction sites, will give real estate firms incentives to shift to precast construction from on-site construction, she added. “Precast construction will encourage builders and contractors to get readymade components from outside the city instead of on-site activities and help them to continue work without adversely affecting the climate.
This will result in reducing air pollution drastically,” she said. The state government has taken action against ongoing construction works for pollution control, Munde pointed out. “Precast construction minimizes carbon emission as precast concrete components are manufactured off-site in a controlled environment.
Traditional on-site construction methods involve extensive operations leading to high energy consumption and greenhouse emissions. The state government wants precast manufacturing in factories outside the city,” Munde said.
Though it leads to rise in transportation cost, it facilitates in minimizing waste of resources such as steel, cement and enables stringent quality, she added. “The policy will be launched soon. The work of the task force and charting out a road map to control air pollution in Mumbai are also being finalised,” she said. Incidentally, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation recently asked all bakeries, eateries etc in the metropolis to shift to green fuels for cooking from coal and firewood by July.
