MCC adopts green  mantra, says no to plastic water bottles

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru City Corporation adopted the go green mantra on Saturday last by shunning the use of plastic water bottle and replacing them steel tumblers and glasses.

Notably this move will not only help reduce the use of plastic in the corporation premises but will also result in savings of Rs 2-2.50 lakhs annually that the MCC was otherwise spending to procure the water bottles. 

The one-time investment has cost the corporation a mere Rs 35,000. Two steel containers, each with a capacity of 50 litres, 200 steel glasses, 50 steel jugs and five steel trays purchased by the corporation will now be used during the council meetings and other programmes. 

Environment Engineer of the corporation Madhu S. Manohar informed that the corporation which holds a minimum 60 meetings annually used to spend anywhere between Rs 2-2.50 lakhs for purchase of water bottles. However, now water can be filled in the tumblers from the water filters installed in the corporation.

According to the official, the corporation received about 360 tonnes of garbage from Mangaluru, Bantwal and Ullal daily at its compost plant at Pachchanady. Of this, plastic waste comprised 8 % and share of plastic bottles alone constituted 2 %. This is after preliminary screening or sorting out by workers of the company in charge of collection and transportation of solid waste from the city.

A water supply engineer at the corporation said that the corporation workers lifted many used water bottles while cleaning the jackwell of the water pumping station at Thumbe.

It is notwithstanding a vented dam at Shamboor, on the upstream of the Thumbe, across the Netravathi serving as a barrier for bottles further flowing downstream to the Thumbe. 

The engineer said that water bottles, thrown away clogged storm-water drains and underground sewage lines.