Plastic ban: All must pull together

Every year, more than one million birds and marine animals are getting killed due to plastic wastes directly or indirectly. We are against misuse of plastic in daily life, yet cannot dream of a plastic-free world. Bio-degradable substitute for plastic is the need of the time. Can plastic be banished completely? To make India free from single use plastic by 2022, as declared by the Prime Minister on October 2 this year, is a great challenge before us all.

After the plastic ban, different people have reacted differently to it. In our village, a grocer was prevented by a conscious customer from selling sugar in polythene bag. But so-called ‘crystal clear and sulphur-free sugar’ is selling well in plastic packs in towns and cities. During a recent visit to Guwahati, I saw a mobile tea hawker turned out from a market for serving tea in plastic cups. Yet nobody was saying ‘No’ to ice-cream in plastic cups! An elderly vegetable vendor was fearful of offering tomatoes in polythene bag, for he had heard about municipal corporation workers imposing stiff fines. A juice seller dared not serve sugarcane juice in disposable plastic glasses because customers were reacting to these as ‘unhygienic, carcinogenic, non-biodegradable’ and what not; a few days later, he switched to a substitute to carry on his business. In general, petty traders are seen suffering from ‘plastic phobia’, whereas plastic packaged chips, kurkure, cheese balls and other foodstuff dangle enticingly from big shops.

To combat plastic generated pollution, every one of us must play a responsible role. Without collective endeavour, it is a near-impossible task. The government and NGOs must organise awareness programme for management of plastic waste to avoid widespread littering. Those who collect and send plastic for recycling should be encouraged.

Bhubaneswar Dey,

Bokajan.