mumbai

Updated: Nov 19, 2017 00:37 IST

If all goes according to Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray’s plan, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may soon start using confiscated plastic bags and straws for road construction and other public amenities.

Plastic bags thinner than 50 microns are banned in Maharashtra. The state government recently announced a a blanket ban on plastic bags from March next year.

Thackeray’s request comes amid BMC’s ongoing drive against plastic bags in municipal markets. It has urged vendors to shun plastic bags.

He has asked the BMC to check if it is feasible to use plastic with other material to build roads. In a series of tweets, Thackeray on Saturday said, “Along with plastic ban across the state, the BMC will also make its markets plastic free. I request the municipal commissioner to conduct a feasibility study whether confiscated plastic can be used to make roads. Many restaurants and cafes have already committed to not using plastic straws and bags.

Civic officials have visited several municipal fish, vegetable, and fruit markets in prominent areas such as Dadar and Vile Parle for the past one week.

Meanwhile, it is not just the civic body which has been conducting awareness drives. A citizens’ group from Juhu — ‘Team ForWard69’ — held a anti-plastic rally between Chandan Cinema and Juhu Church on Saturday morning. Teh citizens along with local corporator Renu Hansraj visited municipal markets and urged vendors to give up plastic bags. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Hansraj said, “We have even provided phone number of cloth bags and news paper bags distributors to these vendors, and held several workshops describing the hazards of plastic.”

Roadmap for green future

Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday asked state transport minister Diwakar Raote to consider rolling out electric buses for various routes, including Mumbai-Pune and Pune-Kolhapur, to cut carbon emissions

After meeting Raote, Thackeray tweeted, “Seeing the benefit of the electric buses (rolled out by BEST), I requested the minister to encourage electric buses on the Mumbai- Pune, Pune-Nagar and Pune-Kolhapur routes to promote emission-free transport in Maha”

“In the intra-city public transport... electric bikes and cycles must be promoted by the government to reduce pollution. We must keep our world green.”