The Government has notified Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 for the first time. Outlining the salient features of the Construction & Waste Management Rules, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said that the rules are an initiative to effectively tackle the issues of pollution and waste management. The Minister said that at present, the construction & demolition waste generated is about 530 million tonnes annually. The Environment Minister said that construction & demolition waste is not a waste, but a resource. He added that the basis of these Rules is to recover, recycle and reuse the waste generated through construction and demolition. The Environment Minister said that segregating construction and demolition waste and depositing it to the collection centres for processing will now be the responsibility of every waste generator. The Environment Minister highlighted that the local bodies will have to utilize 10-20% material from construction and demolition waste in municipal and government contracts. He said that cities with a population of more than one million will commission processing and disposal facility within 18 months from the date of final notification of these rules, while cities with a population of 0.5 to 1 million and those with a population of less than 0.5 million will have to provide these facilities within two years and three years respectively. Permission for construction will be given only when the complete construction and demolition waste management plan is presented, he said. The Minister also pointed out that large generators of waste will have to pay relevant charges for collection, transportation, processing and disposal, as notified by the concerned authorities.