Thursday, 29 August 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the problem of plastic waste has become a major challenge for humanity and has emerged as a big problem in religious and tourist places. He was addressing a programme after launching the digital deposit refund system (DDRS) of plastic waste management operated by the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board at the State secretariat on Wednesday.
The CM himself received digital payment by scanning the plastic bottle with a barcode. He said that the launch of the DDRS is an important step towards environmental protection, reducing plastic consumption and recycling as much plastic as possible and reusing it.
Dhami said that coordinated efforts should be made to implement this scheme. This initiative will prove to be helpful in creating a clean environment by reducing the consumption of garbage in the Char Dham Yatra and other tourist places, he said.
The CM averred that the State government is taking concrete steps to solve the problem of plastic waste and is focusing on clean and green Uttarakhand. He said that the natural wealth of the State is an integral part of our lives and it is our collective responsibility to protect it.
The Chief Minister said that the DDRS was introduced in Uttarakhand as a pilot project and Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand was also awarded with the Digital India Award 2022. He said rivers, forests and mountains are the heritage and identity of the state and the plastic is endangering these heritages.
The experts informed that collection of plastic waste in hilly areas will become easier through DDRF. The plastic waste will be returned to the nearest DDRS centre and after scanning the barcode, the consumer will be refunded a certain amount.
Cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj, vice chairman of infrastructure monitoring committee Vishwas Dawar, chief secretary Radha Raturi, principal secretary RK Sudhanshu, Head of forest force ( HoFF) Dhananjay Mohan, special secretary and member secretary, Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board Parag Madhukar Dhakate and others were present on the occasion.
