NOIDA: Union minister for textile, women and child development Smriti Irani Tuesday inaugurated a charkha (spinning wheel) made from plastic waste set up in Sector 94 and flagged off primary garbage collection vehicles from sector 6 to boost the Swachhata campaign.
The 1,650kg charkha is made entirely of plastic waste. The authority officials said this charkha, which symbolises Gandhi’s dream of self-sufficiency and self-reliance, is the largest spinning wheel in the world. The authority said it is trying to get the structure entered in the Guinness Book of World Records and India’s Limca Book of Records.
“We have not melted or burnt the plastic waste to make the charkha to ensure that the process of construction does not cause pollution. This creation gives people an inspiration that we need to fight the plastic menace that pollutes our ecology,” a Noida authority official, not authorised to speak to the media, said.
The charkha is 14 ft × 20 ft × 8 ft and is located near the Mahamaya flyover, from where the 25km Noida-Greater Noida Expressway starts.
“Many think that it is a small thing to build a toilet, but think about a woman who has a newborn infant and she wants to feed her child. If she finds a clean and safe toilet nearby, it would mean a lot to her. If you want to respect women, then provide them a clean toilet,” Irani said at the inauguration ceremony.
{{/usCountry}}“Many think that it is a small thing to build a toilet, but think about a woman who has a newborn infant and she wants to feed her child. If she finds a clean and safe toilet nearby, it would mean a lot to her. If you want to respect women, then provide them a clean toilet,” Irani said at the inauguration ceremony.
{{/usCountry}}She said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has constructed 11 crore toilets over the last five years.
“Prime Minister Modi in his maiden speech from the Red Fort said building toilet is respecting women. Why couldn’t any other Prime Minister in the last 70 years say that and build toilet for women,” said Irani, who appealed to the public and all government agencies to stop using single-use plastic items.
“Nobody had thought that a call by the Prime Minister for building toilets will become a symbol of revolution in our country. Similarly, we should also stop using single-use plastic. If we respect cows, how can plastic reach her stomach? On the auspicious occasion of Navratri, we should take a pledge that we will stop using single-use plastic. Instead, we should use cloth bags,” Irani said.
Noida, in August, had opened the first pink toilet, meant exclusively for women, at the Sector 50 market. And now it has opened a second pink toilet for women in Sector 39, opposite the Government Girls’ Degree College. These pink toilets have sanitary pads, a breastfeeding section and are manned by women guards, officials said.