People should help us more with plastic roads

CHENNAI: There is a pressing need for the Chennai Corporation to communicate to the people the role they have to play in the plastic roads project, Corporation Commissioner PWC Davidar has said. Underlining the civic body’s requirement of tonnes and tonnes of thin plastics for the implementation of the project, Davidar called for more awareness on the segregation of these wastes by every household.Davidar’s comments came at the valedictory of a city-wide public relations campaign by the students of the Department of Public Relations of the Stella Maris College. The campaign, titled ‘Plastic Salai’, was part of the annual campaign of the department.It reiterated the Corporation’s plans to lay roads with thin plastics mixed with bitumen for durability, and the role of each resident of the city in segregating thin plastics as a contribution to the civic body’s efforts.“I am completely bowled over by the work done by the students of the Department of Public Relations. The Chief Minister had instructed us to take up the plastic roads project. So, we grabbed the opportunity when the students approached us for the campaign, as we were struggling to meet our need for thin plastics to be used in the bitumen,” said Davidar.He noted that government officials were perpetually on the process of figuring out how to get message of their projects and schemes across to the public. “We need visibility for the cause. Our segregation structure is weak,” said Davidar, adding that the message of plastic collection by the Corporation on Wednesday was yet to reach every household.The students had taken out campaign in a number of modes and mediums.They had written and produced a campaign song, instructional video, teasers and posters. They had also visited schools across the city to create awareness among students on the project.Noting that the project had already been mooted by the Jayalalithaa government in 2002, but had slipped into oblivion, Davidar said, now that the Corporation had made a commitment to the people and the State government, it could not go back on its word, and that the plastic roads project would come through.Explaining the requirement of thin plastics, Davidar mentioned that the Corporation had sourced 360 tonnes of thin plastics so far, and was set to open tenders worth `360 crore to collect more. He added that 488 roads had already been laid so far under the project, and 1,200 more roads would be laid in the coming months.Raj Cherubal, Projects Director of Chennai City Connect, Radisson BLU Senior Vice President Vikram Kotah, Plastic Salai campaign director Satyan Bhatt, Stella Maris Principal Jasintha Quadras and Head of the Public Relations Department Sundari Krishnamurty were among those who attended the valediction.