Pics: Abhijith N Kolpe
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, Nov 10: Plastic for Change India Foundation constructed a plastic house at Pacchanady and handed it over to a beneficiary on Tuesday November 10.
Plastic for Change India Foundation, chief executive officer (CEO) Shifra Jacob, director Chandan M C, project coordinator Jayanthi, and project director women's welfare society Surekha D Patil were present during the handing over of the unique house to the beneficiary.
The Bengaluru based non-profit organisation has been working to uplift multiple informal waste collecting communities across the coastal belt of Karnataka, including ones in Pacchanady and Kurikotta in Mangaluru.
Kamala who is a civic worker has worked for the past 20 years and retired six months ago. Kamala's house was previously a tent and in pathetic condition which had collapsed. In the incident, she had fractured one of her legs. Noticing the condition of Kamala, Plastic for Change India Foundation constructed a plastic house at Pacchanady which was officially handed over to Kamala on Tuesday.
The house consists of one kitchen, one hall, one small room and an attached bathroom, all in 350 sq ft. Plastic for Change India Foundation collaborated with Bamboo House in Hyderabad for the construction of the plastic house. This is the first plastic house in the state under the foundation. The total cost of this plastic house is worth Rs 4.5 lac. Certain tests like fire tests were carried out and the house is safe to live.
The panels which are used for the plastic house are made out of 1.5 tonnes of recycled plastics such as low density plastic (LDP) multi layered plastic (MLP) and other plastic waste such as tetra packs and gutka packets. As many as 60 such panels were used to construct the plastic house.
The foundation is also planning to construct 20 such houses for rag pickers and the foundation expects the government to help them to find suitable land for construction.
The Plastic for Change India Foundation has also set up virtual online classrooms for 40 students. They are also conducting awareness programmes on mental health, education and nutrition. They have conducted drives on getting social identities such as Aadhar card, Ayushman Bharat card, labour card and profession card to helpless communities. They have also built a water tank to provide water in the region.