Nagpur News
Mayor Anil Sole on Saturday fervently urged citizens to avoid use of plastic bags in their day to day life. Plastic bags had and have been creating havoc with natural environment and killing domestic cattle as well as wildlife. Plastic is not easily destroyed and it takes hundreds of years to break down. The amount of floating plastics in the water resources like rivers and oceans is increasing dramatically. Later, the lethal chemicals in plastic bags spread to lands making them infertile, said the Mayor.
“Plastic bags are quite commonly mistaken for food by animals, especially when the bags carry food residues, are brightly coloured or are animated by the movement of water. A great variety of animals, land and especially marine, can choke to death on bags, experiencing much pain and distress. If swallowed whole, animals may not be able to digest real food and die a slow death from starvation or infection. If life on Earth and future generations are to be saved, then the use of plastic bags must be avoided. And if used, they should be properly disposed of,” urged the Mayor.
The Mayor was speaking after inaugurating the “Plastic Free City Drive” undertaken jointly by NMC and Sagar Mishra Abhiyan held at NMC’s Durganagar Middle School in Old Subhedar Layout on August 9 Kranti Din. Others who were present on the occasion include Deputy Mayor Jaitunnabi Ansari, Health Committee Chairman Ramesh Singare, Education Committee Chairperson Chetana Tank, Shiv Sena Group Leader Sheetal Gharat, Hanuman Nagar Zone Chairperson Sarika Nandurkar, Corporators Raju Nagulwar, Nayana Zade, Deputy Director (Health) Dr Milind Ganvir, Education Officer Dipendra Lokhande, Medical Officer Dr Prakash Urkude, Education Department’s OSD Ashok Talatule, Acting Head Master Dilip Wankhede, and others.
Throwing light on role of “Plastic Free City Drive,” the Mayor said, “The drive is meant to create awareness among masses, particularly the students, about the hazards posed by the plastic bags. The students, while going to schools, should collect all the plastic bags and bring them to schools and dispose of them in a proper manner. This practice will make the city free of plastic bags and the environment free of hazards.
At the outset, Education Officer Dipendra Lokhande welcomed the guests and delivered the introductory speech. Assistant Teacher Priti Pande conducted the programme while Shyam Gohokar proposed a vote of thanks.
