NEW DELHI: To check pollution from plastic bottles, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has revealed plans to install reverse vending machines at locations under its jurisdiction.
According to the proposal, the cash-for-plastic machines will be installed at nine locations including, Gaffar Market, Kamla Nagar Market , Netaji Subhash Place, M2K Complex in Rohini, East Patel Nagar, Prashant Vihar and Vishvavidyalay Metro Stations.
“The machines will be installed in North area on pilot basis for a period of three months. This is part of the Swach Bharat Abhiyan and is on PPP model. Our investment in the project is just the space, we are not paying for the machines. The company providing the machine is free to use the garbage collected,” said a senior official in the DEMS department of the North Corporation.
Although well-intentioned, the proposal raises multiple doubts on the feasibility of the project, considering the financial mess that the civic agency is in.
It was not long ago that the New Delhi Municipal Council installed similar machines as part of a new-age initiative to trigger enthusiasm among people for recycling plastic at Connaught Place. However, the machines have now reduced to garbage bins.
“If the company that has installed machines in Connaught Place is chosen to provide machines for this initiative, the plan should be put on hold. Also, the plastic waste collected is going to be recycled and used by the company and the civic body does not get a share of the generated revenue,” said Mukesh Goel, Congress leader in North DMC.