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Activists protest garbage pile up at SBS Nagar in Ludhiana
The activists from Action Group against Plastic Pollution and PAC for Sutlej and Mattewara decided to organise a selfie drive to highlight the menace of garbage littering in SBS Nagar near Sunet railway crossing in Ludhiana
City-based civil society group on Sunday took out a selfie drive to highlight the menace of garbage littering in SBS Nagar near Sunet railway crossing.
This prompted the municipal corporation team to swing into action and they sent earth movers to remove the garbage.
The activists from Action Group against Plastic Pollution and PAC for Sutlej and Mattewara decided to organise the photoshoot on Sunday after their several requests failed to yield any action.
Kapil Arora, president of Council of Engineers said while the civic body is claiming to put in place garbage compactors, the trash continues to litter SBS Nagar.
‘Ban on single use plastic- In letter not in spirit’
Ashma Shourie of AGAPP, who came from Jalandhar to participate in the activity said, “Cities of Punjab are drowning in plastic waste. The ban on single use plastic was enacted in Punjab in 2016 but it has remained largely on paper.
“ We want municipal authorities and the local governments’ ministry of Punjab to stop burying their heads in the sand and accept responsibility. We also appeal to the citizens to stop using banned plastic items such as carry bags so that our cities can breathe and get rid of these mountains of garbage,” Shourie said.
Jaskirat Singh of PAC for Sutlej and Mattewara said, “This selfie point protest is not merely criticism of the government. But it is also an effort to improve the horrible waste management we have to engage with. “The government agencies like the municipal corporation and the PPCB are responsible for enforcing the bans on plastics and creating plans and policies. We hope municipal authorities will take this criticism in the right spirit,” said Jaskirat.
No segregation being done
Apinder Sodhi of Ludhiana Cares Ladies Society said municipal authorities need to adopt best practices such as waste segregation in a big way. The mixed waste dumps like these in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and near Gill bridge clearly show that segregation is not happening in the district. “
Kuldeep Singh Khaira of Vigilant Citizens Forum said, “MC authorities have been claiming upto 50% segregation in their reports to NGT as per media reports. This is an absolutely unbelievable figure looking at the ground situation. We need to first honestly accept that we have a huge problem at hand. Only then can we move towards solving it.”