Rio bats for a plastic-free Nagaland within 6 months

Our Correspondent Kohima, June 5 (EMN): As Nagaland joined the rest of the country on Tuesday in playing host to this year’s World Environment Day with a renewed call to combat plastic pollution, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio underscored plastic pollution is one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time and called for a commitment towards a ‘Plastic Free Nagaland’ within the next six months by banning the use of plastic in the state. Speaking at the state level event commemorating the occasion at the NBCC Convention Centre in Kohima, the chief minister said if the state was to be plastic-free by December 2018, there is a need for an action plan. He suggested the ensuring of alternatives such as jute bags, cloth bags, bamboo cutlery etc., that enables a clean environment without use of plastic. Towards achieving this goal, he requested the chief secretary to set up a task force. Highlighting that plastic is a growing disaster with an estimated five trillion plastic bags consumed globally, he said synthetic plastic does not bio-degrade, but just sits and accumulates in landfills or pollutes the environment, becoming a nightmare – prompting local governments all over the world to ban use of plastic bags. “While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become over-reliant on single-use or disposable plastic – with severe environmental consequences. Around the world, 1 million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute...This plastic takes about 1000 years to fully disintegrate. Nearly one third of the plastic packaging we use escapes collection systems, which means that it ends up clogging our city streets, sewage system, nallahs, tourist resorts, recreation centres and polluting our natural environment. Plastic also makes its way into our water supply systems - and thus into our bodies,” the chief minister stated. While highlighting the hazards of plastics, Rio also pointed out that these bags contain a number of chemicals many of which are toxic or disrupt hormones. “Plastic has become a menace in Nagaland too, especially in Kohima, Dimapur and district headquarters. It leads to choking of drains and gutters that causes flooding as well as makes it a breeding ground for germs and bacteria,” the chief minister said. Stating that burning of plastic results in release of toxic gases, and given the multiple challenges that plastics pose, he advocated reusable cloth bags for shopping. He mentioned that the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) was implementing the Plastic Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2011 under The Environment Protection Act, 1986; however there is a need to improve awareness as well as enforcement of the same. “We should seriously consider banning all other plastic bags that we use for shopping vegetables etc. We should also refuse plastic cutlery in the restaurants and functions. Most of the plastic plates and cutlery used in functions and events can easily be replaced with bamboo products which are not only environment friendly but will also give a push to the Bamboo based economy,” Rio stated. He urged upon all the citizens to pick up any plastic waste they see and put them in the nearest dustbin. Rio also called upon the citizens of the state to resolve on this day to make Nagaland clean as per the motto of the ruling People’s Democcratic Alliance (PDA). “On this Environment Day, as we also celebrate 48 months (4 years) of NDA government in Delhi — we have resolved to plant a minimum 48,000 saplings in a campaign mode in the next one week. Each of the 11 districts and Noklak will be planting a minimum of 4000 saplings to ensure that the goal of 48,000 saplings is reached. I call upon the community, the youth and the people of the state to join this campaign and plant more trees for a Green Nagaland. The dream of a Clean and Green Nagaland will be a reality only with active participation of everyone,” the chief minister said. Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, CM Chang, in his keynote address said the celebration of the day was a call for action to everyone to come together and combat one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time. He suggested ways to stop plastic pollution by redesigning and innovating plastic products which make them easier to recycle, scale up the adoption of reusable plastic packaging, establish a global plastic protocol, create a viable market for recycled plastic, to improve waste collection, sorting and reprocessing. A manual for schools titled ‘Towards responsible use of plastics’ was also released by the chief minister on the occasion. Other highlights included a short play by Dreams Unlimited and a ‘Green Pledge’ administered by the Speaker of Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Vikho-o Yhoshü. Awards for the winners of the state level poster competition were also announced. Participants were given a free tree sapling to commemorate the World Environment Day.