A small club in West Bengal’s Burdwan district has come up with a peculiar banking system.
In an attempt to tackle the rising waste menace amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Palla Road Palli Mangal Samity, a local club in East Burdwan has started an initiative of accepting waste plastic and plants as deposit and giving masks and sanitisers in return.
According to reports, a person gets two masks and one-litre sanitiser from the club in exchange for five plants or five kg of plastic including discarded plastic bottles.
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This club in Burdwan, West Bengal, has come up with a unique scheme to provide people with masks and sanitisers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per a report in India Today, Palla Road Palli Mangal Samity has started a bank which accepts plastic and plants as deposits in exchange for masks and sanitisers. So one helps the planet and stays safe. If one provides 5 plants or 5 kg of plastic, that individual gets 2 masks and 1-litre sanitiser. ‘An initiative has been taken by the samity where we give 1-litre of sanitiser and two masks in exchange of 5 kg polythene or 5 plants. Any person from West Bengal or Bardhaman can claim this once in a month until this pandemic is over,’ said Sandipan Sarkar, General Secretary of the samity while speaking to India Today. ‘The main aim is an eco-friendly world and to make it COVID-19 free at the same time. Our target is to distribute these to 100 people every day, and we are getting a very good response. Eco brick is made from plastic deposited in the bank. Plants are also planted along the river banks and on roadsides. People who are neither able to bring plants nor plastic can buy them for Rs 49, and this offer is only available for a month,’ he added. ‘Our aim is to make people aware. One litre of good hand sanitizer costs 145-175 rupees. Two pieces of cloth T-layer mask also costs 50 rupees. All in all, spending more than 200 rupees is difficult for many. So we are giving this material in exchange for plastic and saplings,’ he was quoted as saying by Ei Samay. ‘Pallimangal Samiti has taken such a program before. When the price of onion went up, he took plastic instead of onion. The initiative to provide sanitizers and masks in this situation is very commendable,’ said Sudip Ghosh, Sub-Divisional Commissioner, Burdwan South while taking to Ei Samay. Follow @digital_common_man_ for more updates. Like, Comment, Follow . . Turn on post notifications Save for later Share with your friends Tags begin #fact #facts #instafacts#factsdaily #dailyfacts #factz#factsaboutme #coronavirusvaccine #coronavirusinIndia #coronavirus #covid19 #oxforduniversity #covid19vaccine #gamechanger
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Reports suggest that the club’s initiative is already a big hit with the locals since during the pandemic-induced lockdown people had a chance to clean up their homes and have been trading the waste to buy sanitisers and masks.
‘An initiative has been taken by the samiti where we give 1-litre of sanitiser and two masks in exchange of 5 kg polythene or 5 plants. Any person from West Bengal or Bardhaman can claim this once in a month until this pandemic is over,’ said Sandipan Sarkar, General Secretary of the Samiti, reported India Today.
‘The main aim is an eco-friendly world and to make it COVID-19 free at the same time. Our target is to distribute these to 100 people every day, and we are getting a very good response. Eco brick is made from plastic deposited in the bank. Plants are also planted along the river banks and on roadsides. People who are neither able to bring plants nor plastic can buy them for Rs 49, and this offer is only available for a month.’ he added.
Chandra Pal, one of their depositors, explained, ‘They are giving away masks and sanitiser in exchange for plastic and bottles. I have brought some as well. I am from a poor family. I could really buy these for our protection at such less price.’
