NCC signs MoU with NHA to reuse plastic waste

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reuse the plastic wastes collected by the NCC cadets, officials said on Saturday.

The cadets collected the wastes during Puneet Sagar Abhiyan and other Swachhta activities. The waste materials would be used for construction of roads by NHAI across the country.

Director General NCC Lt Gen Gurbirpal Singh and Chief General Manager, NHAI, Sushil Kumar Mishra signed and exchanged the MoU on Friday.

The NCC has initiated a nationwide campaign 'Puneet Sagar Abhiyan' to clean seashores and beaches off the plastic and other wastes to promote and create favourable conditions for environmental safety.

The campaign aims at propagating the message 'Importance of clean seashores and beaches' among the local population and future generation.

A total of 3,40,000 cadets from 127 Coastal Area NCC Units are participating in the month-long activity. The cadets at different locations have collected plastic wastes amounting to almost six tonnes so far.

The plastic wastes collected is planned to be handed over to NHAI for road construction. The NCC has also approached IITs and NIITs for their cooperation in recycling and gainful utilisation of the plastic wastes collected.

IIT-Kharagpur has already agreed to extend their technical expertise in this. The National Cadet Corps is also approaching NGOs involved in recycling of plastic wastes.

In addition to physically cleaning the beaches, the cadets have also taken up mass awareness campaign to educate the people regarding the evils and harms of plastic use and the damage caused by plastic to natural resources.

Almost 1.5 lakh cadets at 64 different locations have participated in the Puneet Sagar Abhiyan.