An awareness campaign in regional languages, riding on social media platforms, must be undertaken by the Centre and pushed down to the panchayat level
Mariam, an orphaned, baby dugong died somewhere in Thai waters this week. While she lived, ‘Sleepyhead’, so fondly nicknamed by the social media, ensured engaging moments for millions of her fans. Sadly, Mariam’s life story ended tragically with her demise due to intestinal blockage caused by plastic waste. The little marine creature’s suffering once again put the spotlight on the grave issue of plastic debris polluting our oceans.
A ticking bomb, that will inevitably lead to our destruction, microplastics, particles that are smaller than five millimeters, are making their way into our food and drinking water, yet, very little prevents us from asking the vegetable vendor for a plastic carry bag.
Let’s take a look at some eye-popping statistics in order to understand the magnitude of the problem that we, with our callous attitude towards the environment, have created.
It is estimated that an average Indian ingests around five grams of microplastic every week, the equivalent of a credit card. A study conducted a few years ago by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) found that major Indian cities generate nearly 4,100 tons of plastic waste daily, which for the whole country translates to nearly 30,000 tons per day, out of which Delhi tops the chart at nearly 700 tons of plastic waste generated daily.
According to estimates, nearly 90 per cent of this untreated and non-recyclable plastic ends up in the soil, forests, mountains, landfills and oceans, harming humans and unsuspecting birds, marine creatures, cows and other animals.
Given the detrimental impact of plastic waste on human lives, particularly children, our oceans and the planet at large, it is commendable that a clarion call to defuse this bomb has come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Modi, during his Independence Day address urged citizens to eliminate single-use plastic and use cloth and jute bags instead. He asked for the first big step in this direction to be taken from October 2, 2019, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Thankfully, many government agencies and large private sector players have taken cognizance and have started taking steps to reduce or eliminate plastic under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy approach. While the Parliament has banned use of non-reusable plastic items within the complex, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, has also banned plastic use from October 2. It has issued a circular which prevents vendors from using plastic carry bags and will ensure the return of plastic drinking water bottles by passengers. Encouragingly, some private firms like Mahindra and Hindustan Lever have also announced plastic reduction measures.
On the policy-making front, the CPCB is slated to submit a consolidated report on the use and management of plastic waste, after it gets data from State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs). The recommendations the CPCB will make are likely to bring in more norms on top of the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018.
However, good intentions and new guidelines are not enough to tackle this menace. There are a couple of measures that need to be implemented without any compromise to ensure compliance.
A mass awareness campaign in regional languages, riding on all social media platforms, needs to be undertaken by the central government and pushed right to the municipal and village panchayat level. Only mass campaigns on the lines of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will create awareness at the grassroots and prevent indiscriminate and irresponsible plastic use. A key issue which needs urgent attention is coordination between the CPCB and SPCBs. Most often, like other areas of Federal Vs State policy overlaps, we find SPCBs passing “Shut with Immediate Effect” kind of orders that are not in line with Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018.
A nodal ministry, looking into plastic waste management rules and their implementation, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) should urgently set up a national-level co-ordination task force comprising state and CPCB representatives. There should be significant private sector and civil society representation as well. This body should be given targets to reduce plastic waste and c- coordinate on key matters between the Centre and states. In the absence of such a body, interpretation of key laws remains ambiguous and lands in No Man’s Zone. This leads to non-compliance and missed targets. Finally, citizens need to get religious about plastic waste management. The festive season is approaching and tons of plastic will be used, that will most likely end up in the nearest water body. A conscious, collective effort has to be made by all to cut down plastic use. In fact, a zero plastic festival would be a welcome idea this season.
(The writer is a policy analyst)
