Monday, 04 October 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has decided to raise awareness against single-use plastic usage in the city under the central government’s ongoing campaign Swachh Bharat Abhiyan this month. The senior municipal health officer, Dr RK Singh informed that from October 1, the corporation has started collecting plastic waste from locals and shopkeepers at marketplaces which will be later sent for recycling under this campaign.
When the sanitation teams approach these people, they also tell them about the threat of using excessive plastic to humans and the environment besides collecting plastic waste from them, said Singh. He added that for now, imposing penalties will not be MCD’s priority because it does not have any long-lasting impact in restricting single-use plastic usage unless people do it willingly on their own. “We have collected over Rs 1,40,000 in the last week of September but somehow, people continue to use plastic. We do not aim to threaten locals but want to create a sense of responsibility among them. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we had made Dehradun almost plastic-free which was done in cooperation with the locals. We want to achieve that again,” stated Singh.
However, he added that if anyone continues to use single-use plastics despite several warnings, strict action will be taken against such offenders as per the laws. The health officer informed that under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan that commenced on Friday, 11,000 kilogrammes of plastic waste will be collected across the Dehradun district which will be sent for recycling. In this, the MCD has set the target to collect 6,000 kilogrammes of plastic waste, informed Singh. He stated that this campaign will run till October 30 after which, the corporation will start imposing penalties on any usage of single-use plastics across the city by shopkeepers as well as the customers.
