Collected Plastics sent off on trucks

Darjeeling: Mounds of plastic were sent off on trucks today, as residents of the hill town came together to put an end to the menace of non-biodegradable waste.

From schoolchildren to army personnel, everyone contributed to fill up three “plastic mukti (free) trucks”, which were part of the multi-pronged campaign unveiled by the Darjeeling police and the citizens here. These polythene bags, which have been collected from the town since the prohibition from March 8, will be sent to a factory in Siliguri to be recycled into plastic pipes.

According to the Bengal pollution control board, the manufacture and use of plastic bags of less than 20 microns have been banned in the entire state. In the Darjeeling hills, the ban is on polythene packets of all sorts, irrespective of thickness.

While the police have collected about two truckloads of plastic from the town, residents here contributed to filling another vehicle. “These wastes will be used to make plastic pipes,” said Rajesh Subarno, superintendent of police, Darjeeling, and the architect of the movement.

Today, the event started with a colourful ceremony, in which the Darjeeling police band played several numbers, followed by a one-act play and the formal release of the “plastic mukti song”. After that, the trucks, loaded with plastic wastes, headed for Siliguri. “We have recorded the song and will distribute the cassettes among schoolchildren. That way, they will become familiar with the song before the World Environment Day on June 5,” said Samir Sharma, a member of the plastic mukti team.

A run for “a clean and green town” will also be held on May 13, the winner of which will be given a cash prize of Rs 36,000, along with trophies.

“Every year, we will award Rs 10,000 to that ward, which will perform the best towards getting rid of polythene bags,” said Pranay Rai, the Darjeeling MLA. The civic body said it has already formalised a plan and formed a core committee to “sensitise the people of different wards”.

“We have a machine to crush PET bottles. We have got in touch with the pollution control board officials, who will direct us where to sell the destroyed bottles,” said B.M. Limboo, vice-chairman, Darjeeling Municipality. “We also plan to deploy rag-pickers, who will be assigned particular houses, from where they will collect plastic wastes.”

Limboo also announced that land-fill system will be taken up, in which compost will be produced from bio-degradable waste. The project will be carried out on a 27-acre plot, he said. The civic body has also decided to place dustbins of different colours across the town to help segregate solid wastes.

Source: The Telegraph