Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (JS/EP)

Udupi, Feb 6: The road constructed at Udupi from plastic has established that the material becomes a resource if it is recycled properly instead of considering it as trash.

District panchayat held a workshop at Udupi zilla panchayat on December 10, 2019 about the reuse of plastic. Padmashree award recipient and plastic man Dr Vasudevan of Tamil Nadu had trained engineers from various departments and organisations in this regard.

Disposing of plastic that was collected at SLRM centres of Udupi district was a challenge. There was demand for good quality plastic locally but inferior quality plastic such as multi-layered plastic and thermocol foams had no demand.

Dr Vasudevan informed that such plastic wastes can be reused and said that nearly 100 kilos of plastic can be used to lay a one kilometre long road and bitumen can be saved.

He had demonstrated after the training and had laid a 300-metre long road by recycling the plastic at Alevoor grama panchayat limits that day. There have been no potholes on the road even after three years and the cost of its maintenance has been low.

Similarly, a 120-metre long road has been laid from plastic waste in  Maravanthe GP limits also two years ago under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak project and has been a quality project.

“The officials of PWD in the district, zilla panchayat engineering division, KRIDL and officials at road works have been directed to mandatorily use 10%  plastic wastes in their works. Such plastic wastes are available at Vandse, Shankarnarayana, Hebri and Nitte GPs in large quantities. Use of plastic in construction of roads will bring down the cost,” said Zilla Panchayat chief executive officer Prasanna H.