Gurugram, Dec 16 (IANS): With the aim to make Gurugram polythene-free, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is installing vending machines at 10 places in the first phase under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in collaboration with RSPL Welfare Foundation.

MCG officials said that five machines have already been installed at five places, while more machines will be installed at other five places this week.

"Cloth bag automatic vending machine will prove helpful in giving more momentum to the polythene-free Gurugram campaign. This initiative has been started by the MCG to eliminate the use of polythene and motivate citizens in this regard. Under this, the work of installing cloth bag automatic vending machines has started at 10 places," Additional Commissioner Dr Balpreet Singh said.

He said that under the campaign, machines have been installed at five places at the MCG Office in Sector-34, Sheetla Mata Mandir, Vyapar Kendra Palam Vihar, Ambience Mall and Suncity Township Sector-54.

Apart from this, machines will be installed in MGF Mall, Glaria Market, Sushant Vyapar Kendra, Sector-14 Market, Railway Station and Area Mall this week.

He said that a cloth bag can be obtained from the vending machine for Rs 10. For this, a Rs 10 coin has to be put inside the machine.

He said that bags can also be obtained from the vending machine by paying through UPI. One machine has the capacity to hold 500 bags.

"We appealed to the citizens to use cloth bags instead of polythene and work to save their health along with saving the environment," Singh said.

He informed that the MCG has also established the state's first cloth bag bank in Gurugram on December 14, 2020, with the cooperation of Buland Awaaz Welfare Society, in which 35 needy women are also earning their livelihoods by preparing cloth bags.

The cloth bag bank has distributed more than 20 lakh bags so far. According to an estimate, this has curbed the use of about 1 crore polythene bags.