World Environment Day: Awareness programme on plastic pollution in Thane

Thane: On this World Environment Day, which is celebrated annually on June 5, the Thane zilla parishad is initiating the concept of a ‘solution to plastic pollution’ in all villages of the Thane district.

The water supply and sanitation department, gram panchayat department and district rural development department are organising public awareness programs at the taluka level with wide public participation through meetings, discussion sessions, prabhat feris and posters.

The Zilla parishad chief executive officer and administrator Manuj Jindal said, “To work on various issues, it is important to create public awareness for program management at the taluka level.”

Jindal added, “The state government has banned the production, storage, sale and use of single plastic. Also, the Prime Minister introduced the concept of ‘life for environment’ and the ‘mission life movement’. Considering the principles of this movement, the citizens are being appealed to that everyone must accept the discipline of rejecting single plastic use.”

As per the study by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), approximately 7 billion of the 9.2 billion tonne of plastic manufactured between 1950 and 2017 ended up as waste, either in landfills or dumped. If this is to continue unchecked, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. The statistics underline the urgency to address the plastic pollution crisis.

Keeping in view the plastic problem and amalgamation as well as the waste generated at the village level, the water supply and sanitation department has taken up the task of collecting plastic through gram panchayat at the village level and a group has been formed to collect plastic at Kalher Gram Panchayat, Bhiwandi.

“In Ambernath and Kalyan, Rs1.5 crore from cess fund will be spent for waste management. It has been planned to start work in Shahapur taluka through the 15 Finance Commission for plastic planning. Waste management at the village level is a big problem and Zilla Parishad is ready to manage the waste.”