Government set to use waste plastic for making roads

In an attempt to improve the quality of roads and reduce number of potholes, the state government has decided to use waste plastic in bituminous mixes.

According to to the notification issued by the state government's public works department (copy with dna), recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video-conferencing had asked state secretaries to update the progress of various infrastructure projects and work.

"In the meeting, the issue of road construction and its deteriorating quality was discussed. Many state secretaries suggested that they are using the waste plastic in bituminous and that is giving a good result. Therefore, it was suggested to use waste plastic in the road construction for better quality of roads," said a senior engineer from the PWD, who was also part of the meeting.

State secretary Swadhin Kshtriya could not comment on the development as he was busy in a meeting in Pune. However, another officer from the PWD said that the use of waste plastic will improve the quality of the road besides it will also resolve the issue of waste plastic.

"The Prime Minister had asked that the waste plastic should be looked as an alternative material to improve the quality of roads. We have decided to take few roads as pilot project where the waste plastic will be used. We will review these roads every after three months," he added.

As per the government notification, a municipal corporation — where population is below five lakh and more than two lakh — should use the waste plastic in road construction within 50km of its radius. "The local authority should submit its yearly report to the state government. All regional engineers of PWD should be alert and active while using the waste plastic in road construction. If the orders are not implemented, strict action will be taken against them," stated the notification.

BJP MLA Parag Alwani welcomed the state government initiative. "The potholes are major cause of health issues particularly during monsoon. Most of the roads within the city get damaged due to
various reasons. The plastic layer can save the roads from damaging and causing major bad patches as well. If this method is really resolving the potholes issue, then state government should make it mandatory to use the waste plastic in road construction across the state. It has duel benefits. It will resolve the waste plastic issue and will get the quality of roads as well," BJP MLA said.