If all goes well, soon Haridwar city shall be made polythene free with the efforts of a self help group which is providing jute and fibre bags as an alternative to poylthene bags. The polystryene (thermocol) plates and bowls used in community kitchens shall be replaced with disposable plates made of leaves.
In a joint meeting held by municipal commissioner of Haridwar, in HRDA auditorium, self help group and business fraternity members came on one platform to check the growing problem of polythene in the city. An initiative has been taken to make fibre bags with the help of a self help group which would employ unemployed women for the task.
Speaking to The Pioneer, municipal commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey said, “This initiative has been taken to make city polythene free. We have appealed to the traders to give articles in bags made of jute fibre and cloth only.”
Pandey said that only by conducting raids and issuing challans, the problem of usage of polythene cannot be curbed. He also informed that the self help group was ready to provide the bags at a very nominal rate. The representative from the SHG assured of giving the rates of the bags per kilogramme soon.
The proposal for unique Prasad boxes made by the women of the group is also underway. It will be recalled that despite High Court orders and directions of the chief minister for banning polythene in the state, the ban has not yet been enforced effectively in the state.
