Dust-control bylaw for construction sites now in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has introduced an 11-point bylaw for construction sites to control dust pollution and will deny development permission to sites that fail to abide by even one of the rules.
Rajesh Patel, the AMC's town planning officer, issued a circular which states that the civic body has framed these rules to control air pollution.The circular states that the responsibility for adhering to these rules will be of the builder and/or owner and/or engineer of the construction site.
According to the rules, the builders will have to ensure that water is sprinkled on the site every day, it is properly covered by barricades and temporary roads on the site are paved.
Builders will have to ensure that trucks deployed at the site do not spread mud on roads, and their tyres are washed properly. They must also ensure that these vehicles don't damage footpaths and roads. Developers will have to provide proper housing for labourers and ensure that waste generated at the site is disposed of properly.
The rules mandate that developers must adhere to safety rules while constructing basements, dispose of debris at dedicated collection centres, use excavated soil for landscaping at the site and that vehicles are not illegally parked or obstructing traffic.
Sources said these rules were framed after the civic authority received many complaints about dust pollution from construction sites.
Between January 2021 and November 2022, according to the AMC there were 452 construction sites in the city on plots ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 square metres. While these sites were adding floors to buildings, complaints from those living nearby were piling up on the AMC-CCRS complaint redress system.
In this two-year period, 41,878 complaints were registered with the AMC for dust pollution, construction sites not complying with rules, dry waste on streets and poorly built roads causing dust pollution.
"The majority of these complaints were from Paldi, Navrangpura, Khadia and Jamalpur. The number of such complaints from each ward ranged from 665 to 3,079 across the city," a senior AMC official said. The circular says that violation of these rules will result in heavy fines and if needed development permission will be denied.