Plastic ban in Tamilnadu, India

Tamilnadu is a state in India with a high volume of Tamil speaking population. The capital of the state is a metropolitan city called Chennai which is where I live. The Government tried several times in the past to ban the usage of plastics. They start this initiative but they will not be very serious about it. But this time it looks like they are very serious about this initiative. I'm really very happy about this initiative. Just to share my experience, every time I go to any juice shop that uses plastic cups in spite of the availability of paper cups, I used to worry a lot. But today with this ban, the shops have no other option than using a paper cup.

This ban is not completely on all types of plastics which is practically not possible. The ban is only on the plastic items that are of single use. The plastics that are not fit for recycling are a big threat to the environment. That is the reason why the government has taken this initiative to completely ban the usage of single use plastics as a go green initiative. Another main motive of this intiiative is also to educate people with the importance of recycling and reuse.

Stopping the entry of trucks with plastics

As part of this initiative, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) as a collaborative effort with tax departments have started tracking the vehicles that are entering into Tamilnadu. In the state checkposts there is going to be checks happening to make sure we are not importing trucks with plastic materials. This is not just an initiative that was taken only now. The TNPCB is continuously working on this for the past one month to monitor the goods that are being brought into the state and they have already started taking initiatives to pan the entry of plastic materials into the state.

It is believed that 60 % of the problem with plastics can be easily resolved by reducing the entry of trucks from other states. The board has issued a stats on how much plastics are being brought into the states with the help of trucks. Of course there are also many manufacturing units as well in Taminadu which has already received legal notices from the TNPCB board. Investigation will continue to happen now and then to identify if there are any illegal manufacturing is happening. If anything is identified, the flying squads will confiscate the materials and give a warning to the manufacturers.

What will be the outcome of this initiative?

We used to have good alternatives and biodegradable materials in use before the introduction of plastics. Just because it was available for a cheap price, we were using this continuously for several years. Today we have been able to get equivalent cheaper alternatives for plastics but we still refuse to go for the cheaper alternatives. I think this initiative will force us to move towards our legacy ways.

• When someone is purchasing flowers from a roadside shop, people will not be dependent on the carry bags they give. They will instead start using banana leaves and paper for folding the flowers.
• Most of the shops that offer drinking materials will now start using paper cups instead of plastic cups.
• There will be a drastic reduction in the plastic wastes that are disposed into the garbage. Segregating biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste will become easier.
• The pollution because plastic burning will be gradually reduced.
• The state will be cleaner and the word will spread, initiatives will happen in other states of the country and country will gradually become cleaner and word will spread and one day we will have a better world to live.

The initiative will be successful only if people co-operate and also take it very serious. The government will not be able to do it alone without the support of people. The outcome of this initiative will be fruitful if people take it very serious and help the government by rendering their support. The main support that someone can provide the government is through the waste disposal mechanism.

Segregating the household wastes

The next thing that every house should take seriously is the segregation of household wastes. There are two types of wastes, biodegradable and non-biodegradable. Every house should segregate the waste based on the type and dispose of them. It will be easier for the government and other private bodies who handle the waste to recycle things that are non-biodegradable.

I'm hoping that this new year resolution of banning plastics is a wonderful initiative taken by the government and it becomes successful. After seeing the success rate it will also be great if other states in India and even other countries adopt this ideology and ban plastics. We can see the harm that plastic wastes are creating to this world. You can see lots of videos in Youtube about how living being in oceans are suffering because of plastic wastes. Let's all hold hands together to make this world a better place to live.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://bala-blog.com/plastic-ban-in-tamilnadu-india/

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