MCG declares Sector 23 market polythene-free

The Sector 23 market, near Palam Vihar, was declared as the city’s first polythene free market by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG). The MCG stated this

The Sector 23 market, near Palam Vihar, was declared as the city’s first polythene free market by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG). The MCG stated this is in an official release on Monday.

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The Sector 23 market has more than 120 shops and 70 street vendors. Starting this month, all the shopkeepers and vendor owners were sensitised about the problems associated with the use of polythene bags and subsequently, around 10,000 cloth bags were purchased by shopkeepers in the area from the MCG’s cloth bag bank.

Depending on the size of the bag, shopkeepers procured cloth bags from the MCG at prices ranging from ₹3 to ₹20.

Although, MCG in its official release termed the market as polythene-free, officials privy to the matter said that currently around 60% of shopkeepers have made the complete switch from polythene to cloth bags while the remaining are under process for making the switch-over.

The market used around 40 kilograms of polythene every day.

Madhu Azad, mayor of Gurugram, called upon the citizens to motivate people to cleanliness. “Initiatives such as polythene-free markets will help Gurugram rise to the number one position in the country in future Swachh Survekshan surveys. Such initiatives cannot be achieved only on the strength of government or the municipal corporation or even technology, but needs active participation by the citizens as well,” said Madhu Azad, mayor, MCG.

Brahma Yadav, head of the Sector 23 market association, said that all the shopkeepers are committed towards making this market the first polythene-free market in the city.