Plasticity! Polybags Mockban, Clog Delhi

With Polythene Bags Being Peddled Under The Nose Of Authorities, Capital Poses The Biggest Challenge To Modi’S ‘Revolution’ Against Plastic.

- Abhishek Anand

THE biggest clean-up drive for ringing in the “revolution against plastic”, as declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, will have to be carried out in the National Capital Region itself. That’s because Delhi, along with its satellite cities, is the largest plastic waste generator of the country.

The dreadful single-use plastic continues to be in wide circulation in markets across Delhi and NCR.

About 75% of the garbage here is dumped in polythene bags despite the existence of a blanket ban for almost seven years.

According to official data, Delhi generates more than 9,600 tonnes of garbage every day. Three-fourths of this is garbage from households, which is wrapped in banned polythene bags, making it impossible to recycle. The garbage dumped in polythene bags ultimately ends up at landfill sites in Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur.

The Ghazipur landfill, which has almost taken the shape of a small mountain now, is a symbol of the rot that has set in. “It is impossible to segregate waste from the landfill sites with the current equipment. Almost all the solid and organic wastes are mixed at the primary level when people are dumping garbage in the bin. Polythene bags are everywhere in this mountain of garbage. One can spot polythene bags from kilometers away. This has made our job more difficult as the plastic catches fire during summers and it keeps burning for days, releasing toxic fumes in the air,” said a municipal corporation employee who works at the Bhalaswa landfill site.

PLASTIC WASTE CAPITAL

WRAPPED UP IN PLASTIC