Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 14: Terming polythene bags as a grave threat to the environment, Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies, Nawang Rigzin Jora, today appealed to the people of Jammu not to use polythene in order to keep city clean.
“Massive and blind usage of plastic bags and their casual disposal, both by consumers and through waste management activities, not only create environmental problems but also reinforce the perception of a wasteful society. Apart from the devastating environmental consequences, the plastic garbage tear down visual and aesthetic look of the town”, he added
Jora added that all the grocery stores use the plastic bags in huge quantity every day as a tool to keep the things easy to carry, but after the convenience of ten minutes the bags are thrown away and add up to the existing huge stockpile of plastic garbage.
Jora warned that since plastic bags are not biodegradable, the heavy reliance on ‘disposable’ plastic bags in today’s world raises questions of resource consumption and resource efficiency. This is because where ever people leave them, they will stay there for very long time. Plastic does not dissolve; it breaks into tiny pieces and stays there for up to 1,000 years, contaminating soil, waterways and oceans and entering the food web when eaten by animals.
Apart from human beings, they harm wildlife and marine life, he said, adding that Planet Ark, an international environmental group, estimates that worldwide, 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year.
Jora asserted that people in rest of the State should learn from Leh where use of disposable plastic bags has been successfully banned from last ten years. Such success stories cannot be replicated in Jammu unless and until community and civil society extend active cooperation to the Government in cutting its use.
He said if the people of Jammu want to keep their city neat and clean then they should stick to the prohibition of using polythene bags as they are not only a threat to the environment but also cause water logging chocking of drains and sewerage pipes creating unhygienic conditions due to overflowing of dirty water.
Mr. Jora said that no person including shopkeepers, venders, whole-sellers, retailers will be allowed to sell or store plastic bags for supply to any group.
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