Ludhiana: IRS official creates vertical gardens with plastic bottles to reduce pollution

An Additional Commissioner in the Income Tax Department, Rohit Mehra, has used nearly 70 tonnes of waste plastic bottles as pots for creating vertical gardens in Ludhiana. While speaking to ANI, Mehra said that he started creating the vertical gardens in an attempt to reduce air pollution. He also added that so far he has set up more than 500 vertical gardens at public places. 

When asked how he came up with the idea, the IRS official said that four years ago his child had told him that schools had declared holidays due to high air pollution. Mehra said that that incident had set him thinking and wondering why the world could not even provide clean air to our children. “The push came from there,” he added. 

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Further, Mehra informed that he has set-up vertical gardens in schools, colleges, gurudwaras, churches, police stations, government offices and railway stations. He said that it is a cost-effective and space-efficient solution for urban greenery. The vertical gardens also save the environment as you reuse plastic wastes as pots.

“Thanks to drip irrigation, these gardens save 92 per cent water,” he added. 

While speaking about improving the air quality, the IRS official said that scientists from Punjab Agricultural University had conducted a study in the areas where there is a vertical garden. He informed that the scientist found a 75 per cent reduction in pollution as per the air quality index (AQI) of the city. Mehra even added that the main objective of establishing such gardens is to convey the message to people so that they replicate the same in their homes. Now, Mehra is popularly known as the “Green man” in Ludhiana. 

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Netizens call the initiative ‘brilliant’ 

Since shared, Mehra has even been lauded for his “great initiative”. Several internet users called his idea “brilliant” and added that they would also try it in their localities. One user even called Mehra a “role model” and another wrote, “we need people like you to build our nation”. 

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