New Delhi, Aug. 20: The Union Government has banned the use of cement for certain specified types of construction for one year. The banned categories are: buildings intended to be used as offices, theatres or cinema houses, residential hotels, restaurants or eating houses, shops, roads or pavement. The ban will apply to constructions, in the private and public sectors, where they have not proceeded beyond the plinth level.
The Cement (Conservation and Regulation of Use) Order 1974, was notified on August 16. Issued under the Essential Commodities Act, it gives official sanction to the proposal which Mr. C. Subramaniam, Union Minister for Industrial Development, has been anxious to enforce.
The ban does not apply to residential buildings. But use of cement for miscellaneous items of construction, including fence-posts and compound walls, concreting of courtyards and driveways, tree guards, concrete benches, trellis (jalli) work, etc. is to be discouraged. Central and State Governments, local bodies, public sector organisations, etc., have been asked to give a lead in this matter.
All Government bodies have also been asked to issue instructions discouraging the use of cement for these works.
The objective behind the order is to conserve cement, and use alternative materials wherever possible.
