Chandigarh, June 9:-
Aimed at promoting the usage of cloth bags instead of single-use plastic bags, Smt. Sarbjit Kaur, Mayor, Chandigarh today launched a mobile “Cloth Bag selling unit” at grain market, Sector 26, Chandigarh in the presence of Ms. Anindita Mitra, IAS, Commissioner and Sh. Dalip Sharma, Senior Deputy Mayor. This initiative has been started under the Environment Week is being celebrated by the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh from 5th to 11th June, 2022.
Ensuring the principles of 3 R (Reduce, Reuse & Recycle), a Self Help Group ‘Rani Laxmi Bai’, has started this unit under social mobilization and institutional development (SM&ID) component of DAY-NULM for manufacturing and mass production of cloth bags with an aim to replace polythene single use bags. The SHG is working under United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at Ram Darbar by involving 25-30 women under the aegis of Area Level Federation, Ram Darbar, Chandigarh.
The women involved in the Rani Laxmi Bai Self Help Group are the housewives of persons engaged in informal sector, who have the knowledge of basic stitching and tailoring has come forward to initiate a start-up of manufacturing of cloth bags from used and discarded cloths at Ram Darbar, Chandigarh. DAY-NULM has given hand on experience to the Self Help Groups of women through skill training partners in designing low cost bag manufacturing with respect to utility by general public.
While speaking on the occasion, the Mayor said that it is essential for citizens to move away from disposable plastic bags and adopt cloth bags in order to protect the environment and keep the city safe for future generations. She said that grown-ups should set an example by taking this up seriously. She said that these cloth bag selling units are expected to be launched in other areas also including city markets apni mandis and booth markets soon.
She said that this initiative is aimed at encouraging the people to return to the use of this eco-friendly cloth bag and discard the plastic bags. She said that these bags are environment friendly and ideal while plastics are harmful to the environment and also to the health of human being and animals.
Ms. Anindita Mitra, IAS, Commissioner, MCC said that the civic body has roped in various SHGs to hand out cloth bags to the residents at market places at low cost. Meanwhile, flying squads of enforcement wing and sanitary wing of MCC have been deployed across the city to crack the whip on the violators of banned plastic bags.
She further said that the flying squads have been directed to conduct raids at various places after appealing to the people to provide inputs about shops using illegal plastic bags. She said that the MCC has taken a decision to promote the use of cloth bags for shopping, and to stop the usage of plastic bags in order to make the city 100% plastic free.