early times report
JAMMU, Feb 14: Terming Polythene bags as a grave threat to the environment, Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies, Nawang Rigzin Jora, today appealed to the people of Jammu not to use as an essential commodity for shopping and daily convenience.
"Massive and blind usage of plastic bags and their casual disposal, both by consumers and through waste management activities, not only create environmental problems but also reinforce the perception of a wasteful society. Apart from the devastating environmental consequences, the plastic garbage and litter tear down visual and aesthetic look of the town", he added Jora added that all the grocery stores use the plastic bags in huge quantity every day as a tool to keep the things easy to carry, but after the convenience of ten minutes the bags are thrown away and add up to the existing huge stockpile of plastic garbage. He sought operation from the locals especially shopkeepers to refrain to sell and use of plastic bags in the City. Jora warns that since plastic bags are not biodegradable, the heavy reliance on 'disposable' plastic bags in today's world raises questions of resource consumption and resource efficiency. This is because where ever people leave them, they will stay there for very long time. Plastic does not dissolve; it breaks into tiny pieces and stays there for up to 1,000 years, contaminating soil, waterways and oceans and entering the food web when eaten by animals.
Apart from human beings, they harm wildlife and marine life, he said adding that Planet Ark, an international environmental group, estimates that worldwide, 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year.
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