Roads in Mumbai all set to undergo 'plastic surgery'

The government has finally figured out how to fix two of its biggest problems in one shot mdash bad roads and the mountains of plastic waste that continue to build up every dayTwo birds one stone Like this road in Jamshedpur roads in Maharashtra too will be built from plastic waste and tar mix Besides reducing the cityrsquos waste problem it will also lead to lasting roadsUnlike our roads plastic can take decades to break down mdash an issue that has led to mountains of plastic waste piling up at landfills So much so that last year the Supreme Court said we are sitting on a plastic time bomb But use this very plastic to build roads and they take on the same superpowers waterresistance and longevity Thanks to a Government Resolution passed yesterday todayrsquos plastic bag could turn into a highway tomorrowWinwinFollowing the GRrsquos directive the Maharashtra Public Works Department PWD will now use a mix of plastic waste and tar to build roads in and around municipal towns across the state The move is expected to manage plastic that cannot be recycled and hence causes irreparable damage to environment The decision will also be implemented in Mumbai where the PWD controls several roads flyovers and viaducts The city produces a high quantum of waste plastic that can be easily used with bituminous mixes for surfacing roads Whatrsquos more this waste can be easily sourced from ragpickers or civic facilities such as waste segregation centres and dumping grounds said a senior officer in PWDrsquos Mantralaya officeIn February the PWD had asked all its divisional chief engineers to experiment with plastic waste in surfacing at least one road in their jurisdiction However in Mumbai several agencies maintain roads The BMC has more road length than any other agency including the PWD MMRDA and MSRDCSuccess in MumbaiInterestingly the BMC had already started experimenting with the plastic mix two years ago when it resurfaced a 100metre patch of JK Sawant Marg in Dadar west using waste plastic This was the first road in Mumbai to be constructed using the environmentfriendly mix Waste plastic such as tyres and materials generated in that municipal ward was used there ldquoThis patch is in good condition even after two monsoons and it is fit to brave the rains this year as wellrdquo said assistant municipal commissioner Sharad Ughade who came up with the idea and executed itUghade said that the initiative if taken large scale will also save a lot of money ldquoIt not only saves on construction material but also saves the money administration spends on carting waste plastic to dumping yards What is important to note is that we use waste plastic that is generated within the locality itselfrdquo he saidThe BMC will also discuss making the plastic mix a norm for road construction in a meeting on June 21 Civic corporator ward 21 Ramashish Gupta who has tabled the proposal is hopeful of getting it approved in the houseldquoMy basic argument is about protecting environment and saving road construction costs I donrsquot think there will be any opposition from political parties or from the commissioner whose final nod is required for implementationrdquo Gupta told middayGovernment ResolutionThe GR states that the decision to use plastic waste to build roads was taken after PM Narendra Modi suggested that it had succeeded in many places across the country ldquoIn the Pragati Video Conference with chief secretaries of all states on May 25 PM said that the quality of road construction had increased because of mixing of waste plastic with tar He also said that this helped in resolving plastic waste management considerablyrdquo said the GRQuality controlPWD engineers have been asked to undertake work in municipal regions that have populations over 2 lakh and use the plastic mix to build roads in a 50km periphery around these towns Inspecting these roads every three months is mandatory along with submission of a quality control report after a year of construction