Plastic menace continues on last Bada Mangal

Despite LMC's promise to enforce a plastic ban during Bada Mangal, plastic waste was rampant at community feasts, highlighting poor management and costly alternatives.

Though Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) had promised strict enforcement of a plastic ban on the last Bada Mangal of this year, the menace was prevalent at bhandara or community feast events organised on the occasion.

Plastic waste discarded on a street in Lucknow’s Hazratganj on Tuesday (Mushtaq Ali/HT)

Even after LMC had made it mandatory for all bhandara events to be registered, in an attempt to ensure cleanliness, curb plastic waste and implement its Zero-Waste Policy at major locations such as Hanuman Setu, Gomti Nagar and Hazratganj, plastic cups and bags, and disposable plates flooded the streets.

Several stalls hadn’t put in place proper disposal management. Even at places that had it, people were seen tossing waste around. “We wanted to avoid plastic, but the alternatives are expensive and difficult to arrange in large numbers. We use government-approved disposables,” said a bhandara organiser in Hazratganj.

The situation, however, was better managed in some places. In Hazratganj, there were regular official inspections along with volunteers helping with the cleanup. However, Polytechnic and parts of Gomti Nagar were less organised.

Municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar was not available for a comment. However, other senior LMC officials maintained that inspections were done by every zonal officer.

With inputs from Arpita Jha