New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has involved National Cadet Corps (NCC) with plastic waste reuse in road construction. Both signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard. The plastic waste collected by NCC Cadets during Puneet Sagar Abhiyan and other Swachhta activities will be reused for the construction of roads by NHAI across India. The MoU was signed and exchanged on December 17, 2021 by Director General NCC (Lieutenant General Gurbirpal Singh) and Chief General Manager, NHAI (Sushil Kumar Mishra).
Puneet Sagar Abhiyan is a nationwide campaign initiated by NCC to create and promote suitable environmental safety conditions by removing plastic and other wastes along beaches and seashores. It also strives to increase awareness about the importance of keeping the beaches and seashores free from plastic wastes as well as propagate the importance of clean seashores and beaches amongst all. The collected plastic wastes will be handed over to NHAI for use in the construction of roads across the country.
NCC has also asked Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and NIITs for their cooperation in recycling and gainful utilization of the plastic wastes collected by the cadets. NCC has also approached NGOs that are working in the area of recycling plastic wastes. So far, IIT Kharagpur and Odisha Yuva Chetana Sangathhan have already agreed to extend their support.
Not only will NCC cadets clean the beaches, but will also create awareness among people through campaigns that will show them the damages and harms done by plastic wastes. Along with interacting with people, cadets will also distribute pamphlets, administer oaths, perform theme-based nukkad nataks, conduct rallies, and do foot patrols. During this month-long activity, a total of 3,40,000 cadets from 127 coastal area NCC Units will participate. So far, nearly 1.5 lakh NCC cadets have participated in this mission and collected around six tons of plastic wastes, and interacted with approximately 17 lakh people at 64 different locations.
-global bihari bureau
