ITI makes huge plastic bottle elephant for Swachhata campaign

More than 35,000 waste plastic water bottles collected from different parts of Berhampur were given the shape of an elephant at the State government-run Industrial Training Institute (ITI) here on Sunday.

Around 100 teachers and 3,000 students of ITI Berhampur collected waste plastic bottles during the last 10 days and all these bottles are being placed under an elephant-sized frame made with 1,400 square feet insulated iron net joined with 325 kg scrap iron rod.

“The total weight of this 23 feet high and 25 feet wide elephant structure is more than 1,300 kg and we also designed it subsequently to shoulder the burden of all materials, including the plastic bottles,” said Principal Dr Rajat Kumar Panigrahi.

This waste plastic bottle elephant is part of the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign being observed from September 15 to October 2 after a call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a 'Garbage Free India.'

“We formed 100 teams led by the faculty members with about 25 students in each team who collected waste plastic water bottles from various corners of Berhampur during the last 10 days. Definitely, it was a team work. This is a gift to the Prime Minister from the ITI institutions throughout the country’’, Rajat said.

“Collection of such huge number of plastic bottles from roadsides within a very short period is also a matter of great concern for our environment,” he added.

Plastic is everywhere and causes great damage to the planet. For every six plastic bottles, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The other five are sent to landfills or end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes and the ocean.

According to a survey, 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world's oceans every 12 months. About 300 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated each year around the world. Around 1,500 plastic bottles are thrown away every second every day.

Ganjam unit BJD president Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik, former bureaucrat Gopabandhu Das, Berhampur MLA Bikram Panda, Mayor Sanghamitra Dalei and Odisha Cashew Development Corporation Chairman Subash Maharana described it as a ‘new attempt’ to keep Silk City clean and plastic-free.

The concept of containing plastic bottles in an artefact would definitely create awareness among the public not to use plastic, they said, while praising the efforts of the students and the faculty members for this innovative idea.