Vegetable market in Indore says no to plastic; dustbins placed outside shops

In an environment-friendly move, shopkeepers and vendors at the vegetable market in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, have stopped the use of polythene bags, while dustbins have been placed outside establishments to keep the vicinity clean. Indore has bagged the title of the cleanest city in India six times in a row and is eyeing to retain its position in 2023 as well.

The cleanliness move launched two months ago has nearly discouraged the use of plastic bags at the market under Rajkumar Bridge, where dustbins have been placed neatly in front of shops.

“We ask customers to come to our shops with bags. If a customer does not have a bag, we give them vegetables in cloth bags, which are a costlier alternative,” Aditya Verma, a shopkeeper told PTI on Sunday.

The environment-friendly move introduced two months ago has virtually paid off.

Other shopkeepers said that earlier customers would ask for plastic bags, but after the ban on single-use plastic in the city, their habits have changed drastically.

“I have come to the vegetable market carrying my bag because plastic bags harm the environment and take a lot of time to decompose. Animals that eat these bags contract life-threatening diseases,” Deepika (25), who works with a private company in the city told PTI.

According to the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), the wet waste generated from the city's vegetable markets is sent to the "Gobar-Dhan" plant being run on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis on 15 acres at the Devguradia trenching ground.

There the waste is turned into bio-CNG, they said.

According to the state government, “Gobar-Dhan” was Asia's largest plant for making bio-CNG from wet waste generated from urban areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the plant, built for Rs 150 crore, on February 19, 2022.

The city's continued successful run in cleanliness and sanitation hinges on efficiently implementing the "3Rs" (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) formula of waste management, they said.