After the life taking floods that occurred in Mumbai, the Government of Maharashtra decided to ban the use of any form of plastic in the state. Although it is completely unacceptable to the entire blame of the natural calamity on the use of plastics, we could be glad that a small but very effective step has been initiated by a part of our country.
What makes it more applaudable is that a state like Maharashtra which has up to 25 percent of the country’s total consumption of plastic to its credit. This realization towards an environmental cause is a remarkable achievement by the Government of Maharashtra!
Research reveals that India consumes about 4.5 million tons of plastic out of the 170 million tons consumed by the entire world which makes it a very small user of plastic when compared to the others. While being a fact of pride, this piece of information should also encourage the Indians to become the least users of plastic.
When the Government of Maharashtra has taken such an unimaginable step towards global environmental development it should also be prepared for the rise cost price that will accompany the use of alternatives. It is estimated that we will experience an increase in the cost of milk, edible oil, cereals, bread, pulses, spices toiletry items, and other such things which are all presently available at a cheaper rate in plastic packages.
If we take milk for instance which consumes 70 KT of plastic is expected to hike up the price of 5 rupees per liter. There are some measures that can be taken to avoid this explosion of prices which when followed are sure to prove beneficial.
Looks like the environmental awareness is spreading at lightning speed in our country. India’s capital city recently declared a ban on the use of plastics as well. Delhi has also announced is strong disapproval over plastics.
The Government there has strictly restricted the use of plastics in all public places including hospitals, hotels, and malls. The indiscriminate use of plastic has been discouraged by the Delhi Government by shopkeepers and rag pickers by making them extremely expensive and increasing their thickness from 20 microns to 40 microns.
This increase in thickness has been aimed at reducing the possibilities of plastic recycling. With this, the Government of Delhi also intended the widespread replacement of plastic bags by paper bags as there would be no other alternative available to the shopkeepers.
It would be a wonderful success if the rest of the country could learn a lesson from Mumbai and Delhi and ban plastic in their respective states to save themselves and the people around them. This is possible only when the pollution control boards of all the states are strengthened, the law enforces strict punishment on violators, and most importantly when we, as individual citizens of the country realize our responsibilities!
Few information has been taken from: content.msn.co.in
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