International Plastic Bag Free Day observed across state
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, July 03 2021:
As done elsewhere around the world, various organisations and institutions observed International Plastic Free Day at their respective offices and areas on Saturday.
Lilong Haoreibi College Internal Quality Assurance Cell and Students' Union jointly observed the Day by using banana leaves in packaging food items.
As part of the observance, Lilong Haoreibi College Students' Union distributed samosas and jalebis packed in banana leaves to 59 inmates of the COVID care centre set up at the college hostel with strict adherence to COVID-19 SOPs.
The students also spread awareness encouraging the COVID positive inmates to maintain physical and mental strength with the slogan "No to plastic bags and yes to the natural containers".
Later, the IQAC of the college organised a zoom webinar on "International plastic bag free day." Forest range officer, Kakching and environmentalist N Munal Meitei attended the event as resource person and principal of the college Dr Raheijuddin Sheikh hosted the webinar.
To spread awareness and showcase recycling of plastic waste, 44 Assam Rifles of 22 Sector/ IGAR (East) also organised a one day exhibition in Utopia ward of Tamenglong on Saturday.
In a release, PIB Defence said that various reusable plastic were displayed to showcase and spread awareness among people.
Various ways to reduce the plastic bag waste were also propagated through cut outs and banners.
In Kakching district, Range Forest Office, Kakching Lamkhai in association with beat offices of Pallel, Waikhong and Wangoo Lamkhai observed the International Plastic Bag Free Day by collecting discarded plastic bags from Kakching Lamkhai, Pallel Bazar Thongkhong, Kakching Bazar and Waikhong Bazar areas and spreading awareness on the negative impact of plastic bags on the soil and environment.
RFO Kakching Naorem Mu-nal said that plastic bags are posing a major threat to the environment as they take 500 to 3000 years to dissolve.
Face masks being used in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic will take at least 450 years to disintegrate.
Mankind has been littering the earth with plastic wastes since 1907 when plastic was first invented and they are polluting the natural environment.
He further said that on an average 1,60,000 plastic bags are used in a second globally and by interconnecting all the plastic bags used in 10 minutes globally, it can run around the earth one time or cover half of India.
Plastic wastes are also a major threat to aquatic lives and population of numerous sea lives have been reduced due to plastic pollutions.
Burning plastic also releases toxic chemicals such as dioxin and bisphinol.
They produce methane gas when heated under sunlight and get disintegrated into microplastics, he said while calling upon the people to contribute in making Manipur a plastic free state.