Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 ePaper |
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Tamil Nadu
A MODEL: The road near the Tirusulam Railway Station which was laid using recycled plastic. — Photo: A.Muralitharan TAMBARAM: An initiative, which could have contributed its mite to disposal of plastic waste and also helped women self-help groups sustain their income, has been dumped, just a couple of years after it was tried. The concept of laying bitumen-topped roads with recycled plastic as a key raw material, which was launched with much fanfare, has been completely forgotten, mainly on account of lack of support from the State Government. The District Rural Development Agency, which encouraged a women SHG to take up a plastic recycling unit, is not aware that such a project existed just two years ago. Bharathi, a women SHG in Kaarapakkam panchayat off Rajiv Gandhi Salai, was the only group to boldly take up the innovative concept. With financial support and encouragement from the DRDA, Kancheepuram, the women members made a foray into an area that most others ignored. They even installed a plastic cutter machine and started procuring plastic waste from scrap iron merchants and other spots where it was generated in large numbers. A member of Bharathi women’s group told The Hindu that they faced a lot of problems initially. They used to shell out considerable sums to purchase plastic waste in the form of cans and bottles among others. The first time they tasted success was when the recycled plastic was actually used in a project. The first plastic bitumen road was laid in Tirusulam, connecting the level-crossing near the railway station with the Grand Southern Trunk Road. They also got orders from rural local bodies in the rest of Kancheepuram district. However, over the next few months, the members were unable to sustain the project as they did not get the payment for some of the orders they had got from the government, despite making several trips to the Block Development Offices. With DRDA’s declining support for this initiative, the project died silently. Today, a plastic recycling unit is in place at the Zero Waste Centre of Pammal Municipality. A portion of the plastic pieces is procured by the municipality to be added in road laying works. Members of Pammal Exnora Innovators Club said using plastics improved road quality apart from being a simple method to dispose of a portion of plastic waste. While laying bitumen roads, the requirement of plastic is just about 10 per cent. Stating that the demand for recycled plastic waste cannot go down, the women’s self-help group said that with support and constant monitoring from the Government, the project could be extended to all other pockets too.
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