West Bengal intensifies efforts against single-use plastics

Senior West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on Thursday called upon mothers to motivate their children to stop the use of single-use plastics.

She made the appeal at a gathering of school children on the occasion of World Environment Day.

To mark the occasion, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also shared on X a video featuring a song written and composed by her.

The Bengali song, sung by eminent singer Rupankar Bagchi, starts with "Sobuj banchao, sobuj dekhao / sobujer majhe vivek jagao", which roughly translates to "Save the green, show the green / Awaken conscience amidst the green".

At the programme, Bhattacharya who is the Minister of State (independent charge) for Environment, said that the West Bengal government is actively working to promote the use of bags made of biodegradable materials like jute and cloth as an alternative to plastic packets.

"We need to build up awareness among the people for putting up a lid on the use and proliferation of single-use plastic bags. I think mothers can play an important role in this endeavour as they can motivate and inspire their children in this regard," she said.

Bhattacharya pointed out that rampant use of single-use plastics clutters water bodies and clogs drains leading to inundation.

"We can stop this menace only by inducting members of the public, a significant number of them students and youth, in our 'Beat the Plastics' campaign initiated by WBPCB," she added.

A senior official of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) told reporters after the programme that 5,000 state-run and -aided schools across the state will be encouraged to undertake the 'Beat the Plastics' campaign from Thursday.

"As part of the campaign, the schools are being asked to put up several garbage disposal bins on their campuses and the quantity of the dumped plastic bags will be assessed after a certain period. The school which will record the highest tonnage of such dumped materials will be awarded," the official added.

In his address, WBPCB Chairman Kalyan Rudra said Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore had predicted the perils of pollution a hundred years ago when terms like PM 2.5 and PM 10 were unheard of and the save environment movement did not gain momentum.

"Being a visionary, he could foresee the situation and pressed the alarm bell through his writings. If we fail to wake up to the impending perils now, Mother Nature will get back to us sooner than later after we cross the threshold limits," said Rudra, an eminent scientist.

He also said that WBPCB organises public awareness campaigns about environmental issues in collaboration with local bodies like the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

The WBPCB also uses its "Paribesh" mobile app to allow real-time reporting of pollution issues and complaints, Rudra said.