Moving towards checking the menace of multi-layered plastics (MlP), Punjab’s Public Works Department (PWD) and the State Pollution Control Board (PPCB) have decided to work jointly on its use in road construction.
“For research purposes, a small stretch was constructed on a road passing through Ikolaha village in ludhiana on experimental basis with the use of MlP along with bitumen. later, the site test was conducted by Civil Engineering Department of Thapar University, Patiala, which has reported it to be up to the mark,” said the state PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla.
Singla, after an interaction with the departmental officers and PPCB chairman Kahan Singh Pannu, said that that was why more road stretches would be made on pilot basis with similar premix to work out the aggregate impact of MlP in terms of strength and durability of roads.
Simultaneously, the result of the case study would be forwarded to the Highway Research Board, Indian Roads Congress (IRC), for formal approval and directions for the use of MlP along with other material, in the construction and repair of roads and the construction of pavements informed, said Singla.
He said that use of multi-layered plastic for road and pavement construction which will not only channelize the use of waste but also help to get rid of environmental degradation due to unscientific disposal of this waste.
Pannu, who is also the mission director of Tandrust Punjab Mission, said that concerted efforts are afoot to check environmental degradation.
He said that multi layered plastic, the shiny cover in which many ready to eat snacks, chips and mouth fresheners are being sold is among the few materials that are non recyclable and have no alternative use.
“MlP keeps on accumulating in thousands of tons annually and is a critical threat to the ecosystem as it has no end use. The success of joint efforts of PWD and PPCB towards the use of MlP in the construction of roads is a ray of hope,” he said adding that this baby step can be a giant leap in days to come.
“The project is at a nascent stage but with the proactive support of state PWD carrying out experiments on select stretches would be easier. The findings would be shared with the concerned authorities and a positive outcome is expected,” said Pannu.
