ITANAGAR, Jun 5: To mark the World Environment Day-2023 celebration, NGOs -- Youth Mission for Clean River and Abralow Memorial Multipurpose Society in collaboration with Polo Colony Youth Welfare Association and Itanagar Smart City Development Corporation Limited organized a river cleaning drive here at Energy Park today.
More than a hundred volunteered to clean the clogged-up Yagamso River, removing about two truck loads of garbage from the river.
Highlighting about this year’s WED theme-‘Solutions to plastic pollution’- Mission Clean Yagamso Coordinator, Prem Taba said that there is a serious threat of plastic pollution to rivers and streams across the capital and the state.
He stressed the importance of segregating  biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes before giving them to municipal vehicles for proper disposal. “There will be serious consequences to the present and future generations if we do not look and address the menace of plastic pollution now,” he added.
Stating that the cleaning drive aims to sensitize the community on the importance of saving the rivers and streams that exist, he said “The pollution of rivers and streams cannot be controlled if we don’t start this process right from our homes and communities and to have a sense of responsibility for proper waste disposal.”
He also said that the biggest disadvantage of plastic is that it is non-biodegradable and does not decompose for ages and therefore they are not environmentally friendly threatening wildlife and spreading toxins.
Supplementing Taba’s statements, MCY Co-coordinator Keyom Doni said “We must use alternatives like cloth bags and paper bags instead of plastic bags. If we are purchasing plastic, we must reuse it. We must avoid drinking bottled water which contributes largely to plastic pollution. The government must put a plastic ban on the use of plastic.”
Speaking about Mission Clean Yagamso, he said that they are trying to spread awareness through various campaigns and reaching out to vendors, houses, school students, and all the citizen of the catchment area to abandon the use of single-use plastic that are really harming the environment and increasing water pollution.
Among others, members of the Arunachal Pradesh Psychological Association, All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, and The Vision joined the clean drive.

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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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