To make Ramnagar plastic-free, the Municipal Corporation has installed ‘Cloth Bag Vending Machines’. It works like an ATM, in which you get a cloth bag by paying with ₹ 10 coin or UPI. The first machine has been installed in the APMC market.
Ramnagar: Ramnagar Municipal Assembly is working day and night to rid the city of plastic. In this context, a new and unique experiment has now been started. The Municipal Corporation has started installing machines to dispense cloth bags in the city. These machines are being installed at those places where there is more movement of people and buying and selling. The name of this machine is ‘Any Time Cloth Bag Vending Machine’. It works exactly like an ATM machine, from which you withdraw money. The only difference is that when you put a 10 rupee coin in it, not money comes out, but a cloth bag comes out.
Trial started in APMC market
As a pilot project, the first machine has been installed in the APMC market of Ramnagar. Municipal Assembly President K. Sheshadri inaugurated it on Monday. If this trial is successful, then the Municipal Assembly is considering installing such machines at 10 to 12 more places in the city. To save the environment, the central and state governments are very strict regarding the ban on plastic. Local municipal corporations and assemblies are also raiding shops, but despite this the use of plastic is not being stopped completely.
As an alternative to this, Ramnagar Municipal Assembly President K. Sheshadri and officials have taken this big step to inculcate the habit of using cloth bags among the people. For this, this unique ‘Cloth Bag Vending Machine’ is being installed.
How does this machine work?
This ‘Cloth Bag Vending Machine’ has been manufactured by Shree Industries of Hubballi. The price of one machine is Rs 1.90 lakh. The same company has also installed such machines in Devanahalli, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, Karwar in Bengaluru Rural district and Savanur in Haveri district.
This machine also has the facility to make payment through UPI. By paying Rs 10 you will get a bag of clothes. You can also take out the bag by inserting 5 coins of Rs 2, 2 coins of Rs 5 or one coin of Rs 10. This bag is good for the environment and can be used again and again.
100 bags can be loaded into the machine at one time. This cloth bag can easily hold up to 10 kg of goods like fruits, vegetables or ration. The Municipal Assembly is also considering giving the work of maintenance of these machines and making bags to women’s self-help groups.