BENGALURU: In order to make panchayats plastic-free, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) authorities have issued a circular to all their offices to discard plastic bottles. The offices of RDPR minister and principal secretary have started following the new rule, which will soon be extended to all the panchayats.
A circular has been issued to all the offices that come under RDPR, including gram panchayats and zilla panchayats, directing them not to use water bottles during office hours. The offices are to use 20-litre water cans and consume water in steel tumblers.
L K Atheeq, Principal Secretary (RDPR), told The New Indian Express that they have taken these steps to make their panchayats plastic-free. “There are official meetings held every day, sometimes twice a day. At a time, we use 25 to 30 bottles. This amounts to hundreds of plastic bottles and disposing these scientifically is difficult. So we decided to avoid using water bottles. It started from RDPR Minister Krishna Byregowda’s office and was later extended to my office meetings. There is absolutely no plastic bottle in our offices,” he said.
RDPR sources said in the coming days, use of other plastic materials including plastic plates, spoons and files will be stopped. Even paper usage will be minimised. “We want to make this a model department. Department authorities are now planning to hire an agency which will dispose waste from these offices more scientifically,” the source said.