Mumbai minister wants to ditch plastic
MUMBAI - ‘Ditch plastics’, is the motto of the moment for the new Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, in India. As people are slowly waking up to the fact that plastic waste is a reason to panic, many states in India are taking steps to create plastic free zones.
Bio plastic bags, plastic pellets and recycled plastic to make designer bags or even to lay roads are the ‘in’ things in India today. Recently in Mumbai, amid heavy rains, the city came to a standstill as plastic rubbish blocked public drains and created mini floods. This prompted the city Mayor, Shubha Raul, to impose a ban on plastic. So, right now plastic bags with a thickness of less than 20 microns (basically your average supermarket plastic bag) are on their way out. Such plastics,when burnt, emit cadmium and lead and can cause cancer when inhaled by people. All in all, a positive step forward!
The environment minister doesn’t believe that plastics can be completely forced out of cities. But he does want to take steps to increase the use of eco-friendly plastic, like making it cheaper for businesses to produce it. He wants to trigger a change in the way Indians treat plastic. People are already switching to jute, a fibre which can be spun into strong, rough threads and used to make cloth bags. Now, that is change!
