Punjab-based IRS officer creates vertical gardens with waste plastic bottles
Rohit Mehra, an IRS officer based in Ludhiana, has created more than 500 vertical gardens using water plastic bottles at many public places.
With the deteriorating air quality across Indian cities, it has become imperative to replenish the air. Many individuals in the country are working to improve it and one of them is Punjab-based Additional Commissioner in the Income Tax Department, Rohit Mehra.
Rohit has used about 70 tonnes of waste plastic water bottles as pots to create vertical gardens in Ludhiana, Punjab. He is not only attempting to bring down air pollution but also to recycle single-use plastics with this unique initiative.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Rohit said that he used at least 70 tonnes of waste plastic bottles as pots to set up more than 500 vertical gardens at public places.
When asked how this idea came to his mind, he further added, “Four years ago, my child told me that the school had declared holidays due to high air pollution. This set me thinking, why we could not even provide clean air to our children. The push came from there.”
The officer has set up these gardens in a number of public places across the city including schools, colleges, police stations, government offices, gurudwaras, and railway stations. The recycled green walls make for easy yet appealing ornaments across the city.
Moreover, they are hydrated with drip irrigation, a technique that ensures that plants are satiated and water is conserved.
According to The New Indian Express, the vertical gardens are cost-effective as well as space-efficient. Rohit said that since plastic wastes are reused as pots, they also save the environment from single-use plastics.
He added that the drip irrigation practised in these gardens saves about 92 percent water.
On the issue of improving air quality, Rohit said, “A scientist from Punjab Agricultural University had conducted a study in the areas, where there is a vertical garden and found 75 percent reduction in pollution as per the air quality index (AQI) of the city.”
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta