Golden Temple goes green by replacing plastic bags with biodegradable

NewsBharati    17-Mar-2018
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Chandigarh, March 17: Plastic bags will be replaced by biodegradable ones in the Golden Temple, holiest Sikh shrine, from April 01, officials said on Thursday.

Plastic bags, often used for carrying sacrament and footwear by devotees, will be replaced by bags made from starch granules extracted from maize and potatoes, among other things, chairman of Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Kahan Singh Pannu, told reporters in northern Amritsar city.

"Instead of plastic bags, other bags are now available which are made of starch granules extracted from maize, potatoes and other things." Pannu said.

Reportedly, 265 quintals of plastic bags are used at the shrine every year. Punjab officially banned plastic bags in 2016. However, they continue to be widely used in view of absence of an alternative.

A 2015 report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said Indian cities produced more than 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day. Of this, 9,000 tonnes were collected and processed, while the rest littered the streets and drains, or was dumped in landfill. In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that cows were dying after consuming plastic.