A few days back, Lower Dibang Valley DA seized a cache of approximately 500 kilograms of banned plastic bags of less than 50 micron and penalized the erring shopkeepers in the raid.Town Middle School has been declared as the first plastic free school in West Siang district due to their sustained efforts, thanks to the active involvement of students. An upcoming badminton tourney in this district through its tournament pamphlet has also made an appeal to say no to plastic. These efforts which have been undertaken by various stakeholders such as administration, education as well as the sports fraternity are all commendable and is an indication that fight against plastic is gaining right momentum in Arunachal, although it will still be a long way ahead.

Plastic has been a part of human life since early twentieth century and over this 100 year or so its dominance has increased to such levels that life is now almost impossible without this substance. But its flip side which is its capacity to cause adverse impacts both on life and environment has now taken upper hand and it’s an increasing headache for all countries to tame it or get rid of its baneful potentialities. In India, efforts for control of plastic is on for a considerable period, but it’s a hide and seek game to tell the realities. Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 underwent periodic amendments to give some more stronger teeth to fight the menace. But ‘love’ for this so called versatile, lightweight, moisture resistant, strong and relatively inexpensive material seems endless and only gaining strength as days go by. It wouldn’t be an overstatement if it is said that the whole country is deeply obsessed with plastic since it is conspicuously reflected in the behavioral patterns of public. Consciously or unconsciously there is over-consuming and littering which is impossible to monitor, thus making the task of minimizing pollution a seemingly lost battle. As per estimates, India consumed approximately 165 lakh tonnes of plastic during 2017-18 and generated more than 6.6 lakh tonnes of plastic waste during this period and with around 80% of plastic discarded and 40 % going uncollected, it’s not difficult to gauge the incredible extent of pollution that is being welcomed.

With domestic plastic consumption set to cross 20 million metric tonnes by 2020, the challenge of phasing out single-use plastic by 2022 is only getting tougher. Ban on import of plastic waste has been made effective from August 2019 which was a necessity. But unless there is more public awareness and a general consensus on the discard of this ‘fatal attraction’, nothing commendable can be achieved. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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