Drive against Plastic Pollution, Cachar Administration to ban single use of Plastic

Cachar: In a major drive against the use of plastics, Cachar Administration to ban single use of plastic from July 13, 2019. According to the report, the single-use plastic will be banned includes Plastic sheets, thermocol plates, plastic coated paper plates and cups, plastic tea cups and tumblers, thermocol cups, plastic straws, water pouches, carry bags of all thickness, plastic carry bags and flags.

A few days ago Deputy Commissioner of Cachar Laya Madduri issued a letter on behalf of Cachar District disaster management authority on this matter. This letter is issued for to all market association, all shopping mall owners, all hotels and restaurants owners and association, all Chamber of commerce, all local shops and association, all marriage hall owners and association, all event management groups, and all citizen of Silchar.

District administration wanted to plastic-free Silchar. Deputy Commissioner of Cachar mention in this latter The direction is issued in general public interest and as per provisions as laid down in section 30.2(III)(V), (XXIII) of the disaster management act, 2005 and NGT,s Order no. 606/2018.

On non-compliance of the direction, Section 51 of the Disaster management act, 2005 will be applicable.

Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects (e.g.: plastic bottles and much more) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and humans. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized into micro-, meso-, or macro debris, based on size. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, and as a result levels of plastic production by humans are high. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result, they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors have led to a high prominence of plastic pollution in the environment.

Plastic pollution can afflict land, waterways and oceans. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste enters the ocean from coastal communities each year. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can be harmed either by mechanical effects, such as entanglement in plastic objects or problems related to ingestion of plastic waste or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that interfere with their physiology. Humans are also affected by plastic pollution, such as through disruption of various hormonal mechanisms.

As of 2018, about 380 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide each year. From the 1950s up to 2018, an estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced worldwide, of which an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% has been incinerated. This large amount of plastic waste enters the environment, with studies suggesting that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris. In some areas, there have been significant efforts to reduce the prominence of plastic pollution, through reducing plastic consumption and promoting plastic recycling.

Some researchers suggest that by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by weight.

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