'Substitute building materials can limit environmental damage'

Research should be directed at expeditiously developing alternative building material as heightened construction activities were taking a toll on the environment through "unprecedented sand mining from river beds", adviser to the Prime Minister, TKA Nair said today.
"The demand for construction material, particularly river bank sand, has gone up. Rivers are dying.
"Sand mining has taken place at an unprecedented level in the recent years, contributing substantially to ecological damage," Nair said at the 10th World Plumbing Conference here.
"If river sand is not available, there should be research and development for substitutes. Banning something is very easy and one can hope that somebody will enforce it, but there is a huge scope for R&D in this sector," Nair added.

Talking about norms and regulations which are often violated in construction activity, Nair said that although codes are properly framed, their implementation was not effective.
"There should be a consultative process to evolve mechanisms which are missing today. The industry should take systematic efforts to make the codes applicable," he said.

The two-day conference, with a theme of 'Environment, Health and Hygiene and the role of Plumbing Industry', is being attended by nearly 600 professionals from across the world.
Organised by the Indian Plumbing Association (IPA), the conference will feature in-depth deliberations on improving the overall regulatory and administrative norms for the Indian plumbing industry.

It will draw up recommendations for regulatory and administrative changes in plumbing sector norms.