look news india
Mehsana, September 11 (HS). In order to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of a plastic-free India, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has started another environmentally friendly initiative in Gujarat.
Patel inaugurated the cloth bag vending machine at Umiya Mataji temple on Wednesday on the occasion of Dhwaja Mahotsav and Donor Ke Samman organised by Maa Umiya Sansthan in Unjha by putting a five rupee coin in the machine and receiving a cloth bag. Under the guidance of the chief minister, Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has started a unique initiative to make Gujarat plastic free and to create awareness among people about the use of plastic. Under this initiative, unique vending machines for providing prasad in eco-friendly cloth bags have been installed at important religious places in the state as an alternative to the use of plastic bags.
Machines are installed at religious places
Such machines have been installed at important religious places like Ambaji, Somnath, Dwarka, Shamlaji, Salangpur and ISKCON. Devotees visiting here now get prasad in cloth bags only. The bag can be obtained by inserting a five rupee coin in this machine or by scanning the QR code. The use of cloth bags through these machines is getting a great response from the devotees visiting the temple. So far, more than 5 thousand cloth bags have been distributed. A system has been established so that visitors can get a cloth bag at a very low price by inserting a 5 rupee coin in this machine from the automatic machine. In the coming time, GPCB is planning to install more such machines across the state.
GPCB installed machines for crushing plastic bottles
Everyone knows that the use of plastic bottles for drinking water is increasing day by day. People throw plastic bottles here and there after drinking water, which creates the problem of plastic waste. GPCB has found a solution to this problem with the cooperation of industries. Reverse vending machines for plastic bottles have been installed at seven main ST bus stations of the state, Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Bharuch and Surat's Udhna railway station. Arrangements have been made so that the bottles can be crushed on the spot with this machine and the citizens get its direct benefit.
9500 bottles were crushed
Under this initiative of GPCB, as soon as a citizen puts a plastic bottle in this vending machine, it is crushed by the machine and that citizen gets a coupon of one rupee from the machine itself. Citizens get incentive coupons for their good behavior. This coupon can be used while purchasing any item in the nearest shop. All these machines were made operational on 5 June, World Environment Day. Since then, about 9500 bottles have been crushed by these machines.
Government efforts against single use plastic products
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the countrymen from the Red Fort on Independence Day in the year 2019, appealed to stop the use of single-use plastic. Apart from this, in the year 2021, the Government of India has made amendments in the plastic waste management rules to ban single-use plastic items. Under these amendments, the thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from 50 microns to 75 microns from the year 2021 and to 120 microns from December 31, 2022.