Press Release on launch program of "Plastic Waste Awareness Week" on 5.3.2022 at Samman Bhavan.
Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Prem Singh Tamang said that environmental conservation is of paramount importance and must gain precedence over business interests. Speaking at the launching of the "Plastic Waste Awareness Week" initiated by the State Pollution Control Board-Sikkim today at Samman Bhavan he stated that the State Government was taking steps to ensure environment friendly development and that plastic waste awareness was necessary for both urban as well as rural people. The Plastic Waste Awareness Week will be observed throughout the State from 6th March to 12th March 2022 with the main objective of creating awareness of the health hazards of plastics among the public and the need to properly dispose of plastic waste.
The Chief Minister stated that plastic is one of the most commonly found materials on the earth today and has become an integral part of people's everyday life. It is a convenient material for packaging and for carrying goods but has the potential to do irreversible damage to mother earth. He said that plastic pollution can cause several diseases and the changed lifestyle of modern times and dependence on packaged foods has led to higher incidence of diseases like cancer, heart problems and kidney problems which were unknown in the Sikkimese population years ago. A healthy environment leads to health individuals.
Speaking about the recent ban on the packaged drinking water bottles of 2 litres and below, the Chief Minister stated that the State Government would support entrepreneurs for setting up of units that produce drinking water in glass bottles which can be reused like beer bottles. Rather than doing this some people were trying to circumvent the law and continue to produce plastic packaged water.
The Chief Minister released awareness materials such as pamphlets, posters, stickers and videos developed by the State Pollution Control Board Sikkim on the occasion. These materials will be distributed in the gram panchayat units and municipal wards to all households through the Rural Development and Urban Development Departments and electronic media. He also inaugurated the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station set up by the State Pollution Control Board at Zero Point and M.G. Marg Gangtok and felicitated volunteers who are engaged in Single Use Plastic Assessment.
"Post-Mortem" - A short video (in Nepali) on ill-effects of SUPs - Published by SPCB Sikkim
"Apui S.U.P" - A short video (in Nepali) on curbing SUPs - Published by SPCB Sikkim
Substitution of plastics with alternatives is also an environment friendly step that can be adopted by everyone. Alluding to this, the Chief Minister stated that people can easily adapt to changed conditions and proper awareness is the key to this. Referring to single use plastics he stated that the Government of India has prohibited the use of many single use plastics through an amendment of the Plastic Waste Management Rules and that many state governments also had banned plastic items keeping in view the harmful impact on the environment.
While complimenting the State Pollution Control Board for conceiving the awareness program which was the need of the hour he advised it and the concerned Government departments to utilize the services of non government organizations and volunteers to organize plastic waste pollution awareness programs at the grass roots levels such as awareness camps.
The Chief Minister also directed the Forest and Environment Department to monitor quarrying activities closely to prevent rampant collection of sand and stone from rivers while allowing environmentally sound quarrying.
(Press Release from State Pollution Control Board).