Letter to BS: The daily generation of plastic waste is a matter of concern

Your editorial “The plastic problem” (August 22) sums up the problem very succinctly. Indeed, we have a plethora of legislation, in most states, to restrict the production and use of single-use plastics (SUPs) for years now. The Prime Minister's recent call to the nation to “make India free of SUPs” is timely and shows the importance he gives to the crucial subject that threatens many facets of life — problem that embraces many facets of life like polluting the environment and ground water, clogging drains leading to flooding, minute quantities of plastic getting into packaged food consumed by us all.

The daily generation of 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste — and 90 per cent of the same adding to the landfills all over the country — is a matter of concern. The menace is adding 8.5 million tonnes annually to the huge landfills; ironically, most of them in the big metros of the country. And, we are all aware of the problems these landfill mountains cause. Foul stench is the least of them; there are occasional fires leading to huge toxic emissions, leaching into groundwater pollutes the groundwater aquifers, mosquitoes breed there causing diseases, pigs and other animals feed on the rotting food that eventually reaches our stomachs. The tragic effects are endless.

The key to tackling the problem lies in states taking a rigid stand against pressures from the industry and enforcing the laws strictly. The problem is not beyond efficient handling if they have the will to do it.
 

Krishan Kalra,  Gurugram

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