Guwahati To Tackle Plastic Waste By Making Roads From It

Joining the list of states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and immediate neighbour Meghalaya, Assam has taken up a pilot project to construct roads from waste. Public Works Department minister Himanta Biswa Sarma laid the foundation of a 100 metre road in the largest city of Assam.

• The first-of-its-kind project was launched on the Kahilipara-Dakhingaon Don Bosco Road in the presence of the PWD officials.
• The decision to put city’s plastic waste to use was inspired from the Meghalaya government which constructed 1 kilometre road in Nongkynjang using plastic waste earlier this year.
• The initiative aims to reduce the amount of plastic waste ends up in landfill.
• The roads made from plastic will also help in maintaining roads during monsoons.
• Plastic roads will be more durable and cost effective.
• Guwahati generates approximately 22,000 kilos of plastic waste of which 60 per cent is recycled.
• The remaining plastic is either dumped in landfills or burnt causing air pollution.
• The roads will be developed by using the technique pioneered by Plastic Man of India, Rajagopalan Vasudevan.
• The plastic generated in the city will first be segregated by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) according to their thickness as usually plastic carry bags of more than 60 microns are preferred in the road construction activity.

By: Ziyaur Rahman