Mounds of single-use plastic items dot Abohar

Abohar, August 21

The sanitation wing of the Abohar Municipal Corporation on Wednesday found single-use plastic items dumped near footpaths and the boundary walls of government buildings, including the administrative complex, educational institutes and health centres during a five-day cleanliness campaign.

Yesterday, Deputy Commissioner-cum-MC Commissioner Dr Senu Duggal called for zero-tolerance to insanitary conditions.

The MC officials said they collected tonnes of single-use plastic items from different areas such as Sitto Road, Judicial Courts Complex, Kandhwala Road and streets within the limits of the MC and shipped it to the material recovery facility (MRF) for recycling.

Mayor Vimal Thatai said every resident should extend support for implementation of the Swachh Bharat campaign.

During their visit to different localities, the sanitation inspectors and supervisors urged people to segregate dry and wet waste.

In the Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2017, Abohar ranked as India’s second dirtiest city and stood at 278th position in 2018 and ranked 232 in 2019. In 2020, it slipped to 380th position.

The city began to see a change for the better in 2021, when it ranked 105th at the national level. In 2023, Abohar was ranked the second cleanest urban local body in India, behind Mohali with a national rank of 105.

The “Apna Abohar, Apni Abha” team has so far organised more than 125 fortnightly camps across the city where 1.75 lakh people live in 50 wards. At each camp, stress is laid on shunning single-use-plastic items but the ongoing MC drive indicates that the same were still being sold openly.

The residents said drives carried out by the Punjab Pollution Control Board often proved futile.