Considerable  research work has been done by number of R&D organisations in India regarding the utilisation of industrial waste for manufacturing building products.

From these TPPs enormous amount of fly ash is generated. Inspite of huge expenditure and investments to dump it safely, unmanageable magnitude of fly ash causes serious environmental & health hazards.

To find an appropriate solution, District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) of Bathinda invited Development Alternatives to suggest and appropriate use of this material in manufacturing building products.

For this purpose, a 12 day training programme was held at the Building Centre of village Kaljharani (30 km away from Bathinda town) which is a part of self- employment project of this district. The objectives of this training programme was to utilise fly ash as a walling material and to introduce micro enterprise based sustainable building technologies to create employment opportunities for the rural youth.

Technologies included fly ash blocks as a walling product, Micro Concrete Roofing Tiles (MCR) for sloping roofs and concrete blocks for pavements.

With the co-ordination of local administration and efforts of sincere and industrious trainees, the programme achieved more than its set objectives resulting in a permanent building centre for training and production of these technologies, run by the rural youth.

Use of Marble Slurry in Rajasthan
Rajasthan is bestowed with enormous quantities of rich mineral deposits. From the marble belt of southern Rajasthan, more than 2.5 million tonnes of marble is extracted every year. The industry has a vital role in the economic development of this region.

On the other side of this bright picture are major problems which cause severe environmental and health hazards. Huge marble blocks from the quarry are cut into thin slabs with the help of gang saws. The blade thickness of these saws is about 5mm, therefore, for every 20mm slab, 5 mm of thickness is converted into powder. In addition the production process requires huge quantities of water, which acts as a coolant. Thus, the total waste generation comprising of 20% of powered marble and large quantities of water becomes 50% of the total mineral mined.

The large quantities of marble slurry are either piled as huge mounds or dumped on road sides and seasonal river beds.

Major problems associated with marble slurry generation are:

w Dried marble powder from the mounds mixes with air, forms fugitive dust affecting visibility and becomes an eye 
     sore.
w Its deposition on dried riverbeds, blocks flow of water thus seriously affecting underground water availability.
w Its dumping adversely affects soil productivity, by decreasing porosity, water absorption, water percolation etc.
w In the rainy season, with flowing water, slurry is carried over to the rivers and other water bodies, severely   
     affecting aquatic life and water storage capacities.

The Udaipur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI), along with SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation) now working towards the utilisation of marble slurry and reducing environmental hazards caused by it.

Various research organisation like Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee, Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) Bangalore, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) Delhi etc. have been working on projects to enhance marble slurry utilisation in manufacturing building products. The UCCI organised a seminar on gainful utilisation of marble slurry in building products on 18th September, 2000. Scientists from CPRI, CRRI, CBRI, of the Indian Environmental Society, highlighted their research activities and building products associated with marble slurry utilisation.

Development Alternatives was also invited to this seminar to present its work on appropriate building technologies and micro enterprise development. As a next step to this phase of R&D, UCCI has felt the need for micro building material enterprises in the region. After visiting Development Alternatives’ building centre at Delhi, UCCI is considering the introduction of some alternative building technologies, which will be promoted as micro enterprises.

It is hoped that UCCI’s approach of micro enterprise development will be an important step towards marble slurry utilisation and overall prosperity of the region. q

The author is Building Technologist
 at Development Alternatives, 
Email: anandc@sdalt.ernet.in