Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pic/ PTI
Mathura: The Prime Minister sent out a message on reducing the use of plastic as he was seen separating plastic from a pile of garbage with rag pickers and engaging in conversation with them
Amidst talks of a blanket ban on the use of single-use plastics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday has been emphasizing on reasons to eliminate the use of plastic.
The Prime Minister, who was in Mathura for the inauguration of National Animal Disease Control Programme, sent out a message on reducing the use of plastic as he was seen separating plastic from a large heap of garbage with rag pickers and in the process engaging in conversation with them.
Modi also pointed out that the animals are dying because of choking on plastic trash. "The problem if the plastic is growing each day. You Brijwasis are well aware of how plastic becoming a major factor of animals' death. Similarly, the marine animals, especially fishes living in rivers, ponds are also dying because of plastic pollution in the water bodies," he said at the occasion in Mathura.
He encouraged people to use cloth or jute bags while shopping and urged traders to use less of plastics for packaging. He also urged self-help groups and the youth to work towards making India plastic-free. "I appeal to Self Help groups working in villages, social organisations, youth organisations, clubs, schools and colleges to join the campaign against single plastic use and make India clean and green," Modi said
On this occasion, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched an anthem Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada as a part of a campaign to make India plastic-free by 2022. The Ministry is said to be also making efforts to spread awareness about the management and recycling ecosystem across India.
Also Read: Throw out single-use plastics before October 2, says Narendra Modi
Cutting on the regular use of plastic has been on the agenda of the government for quite some time now. While addressing the nation on Independence Day from the Red Fort less than a month ago, Modi put forth the agenda refraining from using plastic in one's daily life."Can we free India from single-use plastic? The time for implementing such an idea has come. May teams be mobilised to work in this direction. Let a significant step be made on October 2," the prime minister said.
Even before the NDA government came back to power for the second time, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change amended the Plastic Waste Management Rules (2016) On March 27 this year, which makes manufacturers, suppliers, and sellers of plastic (and plastic products) across the country replenish their plastic made products within a span of two years.
The Prime Minister also called on global leaders at UNCCD COP 14 Summit in Greater Noida to follow the country's decision to say good-bye to single-use plastic."I would like to draw your attention to another land degradation; it is the menace of plastic waste. My government has announced that India will put an end to single-use plastic in the coming years. The time has come for the world to say goodbye to single-use plastic," Prime Minister Modi said at the event yesterday.
With inputs from ANI
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