Arunachalee entrepreneur seeks support for Eco-friendly bag

Our Correspondent

Itanagar: Concerned over the hazard of plastics, an Arunachalee entrepreneur Khoda Vijay, dared to set up a non-woven eco-friendly bag industry despite all odds.

Vijay which is a master degree holder in Sociology from Banaras Hindu University and a M Phil from Rajiv Gandhi University, hails from remote Restaring village in Kra-Daadi district of the State.

He managed manpower, materials and obtained a Rs 35-lakh loan from Vijaya Bank and succeeded in establishing the unit (M/s Mepung Trading Agency) in Damsite area at Naharlagun, near here during March last year.

With one operator, two assistants and four female packagers, the industry produces six varieties of bags based on weight-wise carrying capacity besides D-cut and W-cut shape bags which, have already reached various parts of this Himalayan State.

Responding to questions, Vijay said: “Though I have added a new chapter to this non-industrial State but the problems I have been facing due to lack of industrial policy in the State are beyond my explanation.”

“I had explained those avoidable problems for growth of small scale industries during a meeting called by the RBI here in 2018. Though, then DC, SP and bankers attended the meeting but it yielded no result,” he said.

“Even my meetings with Chief Minister Pema Khandu, the Chief Secretary and RD Secretary SK Jain are yet to bring any positive result,” he said.

“My industry produces about 100 bags in a minute and I have appointed agents at Bomdila (West Kameng), Capital, Ziro (lower Subansiri), Daporijo (Upper Subansiri), Raga (Kamle) and Palin (for Kurung Kumey & Kra-Daddi districts), but yet to receive any support from the State government.

The Centre for International Environmental Law in a new report on the impact of plastic on climate change in 2019 said that plastic will contribute to Greenhouse gases equivalent of 850 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere in 2019.

In current trend, annual emissions will grow to 1.34 billion tons by 2030. By 2050, plastic could emit 56 billion tons of Greenhouse gas emissions, as much as 14 per cent of the earth’s remaining carbon budget.

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