Representing over 85 per cent of the development taking place in the city, the Promoters and Builders Association of Poona (PBAP), deliberated on solutions on everything from environmental issues such as water and waste water management, garbage management, use of eco-friendly materials in construction to energy-saving techniques, at a seminar in the city recently. | |
| The body which has 200 builders and developers under its umbrella is attempting to instill the ownership feeling within the community as well as among the denizens so as to take the responsibility for an equal per cent, (85 per cent) of the environment development. |
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| Sanjay Deshpande, chairman, Environment and Energy Committee, PBAP said, "As we take pride in developing over 80 per cent of the city, we have the responsibility of 85 per cent of the environment also." |
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| Noting that production of building materials lead to irreversible environmental damages as buildings consume 40 per cent of raw stones, gravel and sand, 25 per cent of wood and 10 per cent of water, Zigisha Mhaskar, architect said, "There are eco-friendly materials as well as technologies available today that do least possible damage to human and environment health. For instance, cement used for road construction can be reduced by up to 70 per cent by use of fly ash bricks, which can even reduce the construction use of cement by up to 30 per cent." |
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| Sensitising the audience towards the homemade cost-effective measures they can adopt at home for waste management, Lata Tai Shrikhande spoke about practical implementations at the end user levels as well as at the building and community level, to convert edible garbage into manure. |
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| Extending this concept of garbage management further, Mohan Jawdekar, general manager, enviro-biotech division, Excel Industries presented the benefits of treating it at the locality and municipal levels. |
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| "If treated well, garbage is revenue earning as it can be successfully converted to manure and also recycled wherever possible," he said. |
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| The seminar concluded with Deshpande agreeing upon the growing importance of adopting eco-housing, which can be done in an integrated approach of installing all the measures discussed, but said, "The government and banks need to support this by providing incentives to builders and consumers who adopt these measures as the price of the project increases by up to Rs 35-50 per square feet." |
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| Other speakers at the seminar included Veena Dharmaraj, project manager, International Institute of Energy Conservation, Amod Ghamande, environment consultant and Umesh Tashidar, director and CEO of DSK Infotech. |
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| They touched upon topics of rain harvesting, water recycling and treatment of eco-housing assessments and technology. |
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