Tagore Garden’s vegetable market attains city’s first plastic-free status

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Monday named Tagore Garden’s fruits and vegetable market as the first market to attain plastic-free status in the city.

SDMC mayor Sunita Kangra said the fruit market had set an example for others by achieving plastic-free status. She said the SDMC is determined to reduce plastic waste in its jurisdiction by promoting the use of eco-friendly sustainable alternatives.

She said the declaration of Tagore Garden’s fruit and vegetable market as plastic-free was the part of the civic body’s many initiatives aimed at protecting the environment and eliminating single-use plastic in Delhi.

“Tagore Garden’s fruits and vegetable market has become the first market to attain plastic-free status. Apart from this, the SDMC has also identified five markets each in its all four zones which will be given the plastic-free status,” she said in a statement.

SDMC’s standing committee chairman Bhupendra Gupta said the aim of declaring markets plastic-free was to spread awareness about the ill effects of plastic and promote the use alternatives of polythene bags among the shopkeepers and customers in other markets as well.

“It is a common belief that making a fruit and vegetable market stop using polythene bags is an impossible task, but we wanted to challenge this notion and show people that these markets can also move towards a greener and cleaner India. We have achieved our goal of making the market in Tagore Garden plastic-free with the help of mass awareness campaign and support of market association and shopkeepers,” Gupta said.

He added that people have to follow a sustainable approach towards building a healthy environment by eliminating single-use plastic and take stringent measures to reduce dependency on polythene.

Gupta also urged the shopkeepers to put up a board at their shops appealing the customers to carry cloth and jute bags.

First Published: Sep 23, 2019 20:57 IST