Complete ban on plastic carry bags in Ludhiana city from Aug 1: Mayor

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 21

A day after waterlogging occurred in various parts of the city, Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu has announced to impose a complete ban on the use of plastic carry bags from August 1. The Mayor said the dumping of plastic bags was among the main reasons behind choking of sewer lines and road gullies in different localities.

He said it has come to light that a lot of plastic was found in choked road gullies and sewer pipes in the city. Many people generally dump plastic in the sewer system due to which pipes get choked. The MC would launch a drive to ensure implementation of the ban and action would be taken against violators, he said.

The MC’s General House had earlier given nod for issuing a notification to ban single-use plastic. He appealed to residents, not to use plastic bags.

Meanwhile, Sandhu claimed that rainwater had got cleared from various areas within a lesser time yesterday as compared to earlier. He said the MC had ensured cleaning of drains while sewers were cleaned with super suction machines before the arrival of the monsoon.

Issues need attention to resolve waterlogging

The MC has recently installed storm water drainage lines in a few areas, including Clock Tower Road and Rani Jhansi Road recently but a majority of city areas still lack storm water drainage system. Road gullies are generally connected with the sewer system in majority of the areas.

Most of the new buildings have come up without the provision of the rainwater harvesting (RWH) system by violating the norms. Besides, interlocking tiles were being installed on roadsides in the absence of a proper drainage system. Earlier, road berms, which were not metalled, used to absorb rainwater easily.

The Mayor said he would order officials to prefer installation of grass paver interlocking tiles on roadsides. He said building branch officials would be directed to check the rainwater harvesting system in buildings too. Notably, sewer connections of a number of colonies outside the MC’s jurisdiction have been connected with the MC’s sewer system. In several areas of the city, sewers start overflowing soon.

An official said: “Sewer connections of colonies outside the MC also put a load on the MC’s sewer system.”

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.