GVMC has motivated the public to switch to plastic bags through a series of well-planned measures
GVMC has motivated the public to switch to plastic bags through a series of well-planned measures
February 27 was not a regular Sunday for Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) employees. For him was none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in his Mann Ki Baat address lauded the civic body’s Cloth Bag Challenge initiative launched in schools to motivate school children to switch to plastic bags.
The Prime Minister expressed appreciation for students preparing their own cloth bags by sewing together waste pieces of cloth as part of the Swachh Survekshan initiative, and praised the civic body for inculcating the idea among school children .
The Prime Minister’s words of encouragement acted as a morale booster for the civic body, which pledged to completely ban single-use plastic from June 5. Three months later, the public’s perception of plastic has changed drastically. Use.
People are now carrying their cloth bags to buy groceries and steel boxes to buy meat. Vendors have put up ‘no plastic bags’ posters on their vehicles and the once ubiquitous plastic water pouches can no longer be found at most weddings or large celebrations. These measures indicate that Vizag is now at the forefront of the country in its fight against plastic.
“After the recognition of the Prime Minister, GVMC along with the district administration has started organizing ‘Sagar Thera Swachhata’ beach cleaning program on the first Sunday of every month. The success of that program gave us the confidence to go for a decision to ban single-use plastic from June 5. We announced the decision to the public on June 5th, which was World Environment Day, and began a countdown highlighting the decision. GVMC commissioner G. Laxmisha said.
The Municipal Commissioner admitted that this was not an easy task considering the amount of single-use plastic bags being sold every day across the city. “First, we identified the major sources of plastic waste like Rythu Bazaar, grocery stores, flower markets, shopping complexes, bakeries, street vendors. Tea Shop and Tiffin Shops. Over a period of two months (June and July), GVMC employees conducted around 200 awareness programs in such areas, creating awareness about the dangers of using plastic. Vendors were advised to go for plastic alternatives. The civic body also held meetings with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), NGOs, advertising agencies, industries, flexi printers and shopping malls, seeking their support,” Mr Laxmisha said.
strong message
According to Sri Lakshmisha, the ‘Giri Pradakshina’ festival of Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy held on 12th July this year was an occasion to give a strong message to the public on plastic ban. He said that for the first time there was a sharp drop in the distribution of single-use plastic water pouches during the festival.
“GVMC, RWAs and NGOs used steel and paper glasses and provided food in disposable plates. Similarly, plastic was banned during the India-South Africa cricket match held on June 14 in the city. These sent a strong message to the people that how strictly plastic is being banned in the city. We also used these events to promote the use of alternative products such as paper bags and jute bags.
Subsequently, an ‘eco-fair’ event organized by the civic body at Beach Road as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations to promote eco-friendly products garnered a lot of public interest.
beach cleaning campaign
The beach cleanup drive, organized by the state government in association with US-based NGO ‘Parle for the Oceans’ and GVMC, is considered a milestone in the fight against plastic waste.
The 28-km stretch from Naval Coastal Battery (NCB) to Bheemunipatnam was cleared by about 22,000 volunteers including government employees, students, RWAs, NGOs and personnel from the Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Police. Around 76 tonnes of waste was cleared in the largest beach cleanup event held in the world, thus helping to put Vizag on the global map.
Promoting the plastic ban, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, after participating in a beach clean-up campaign, announced that the entire Andhra Pradesh should be made ‘plastic free’ by 2027.
Citizen employees believe that with the establishment of Parle Super Hub and Parle Future Institute, Vizag will become a pioneer in the implementation of ban on single-use plastic for other ULBs in the country.
what will happen next
Mr Laxmisha said that in order to sustain the plastic ban initiative, GVMC is trying to invite and encourage eco-friendly product manufacturers and suppliers.
“We are looking to invite such industries through the Urban Community Development (UCD) wing and provide training to our SHGs which can benefit both their establishments as well as our SHGs. If they want to set up some units here, we will give it to the state government and provide all possible help,” he said.
The GVMC chief also said that in all municipal schools, they will replace plastic dustbins with bamboo bins and will also install pens made of bamboo. We are working with a consulting agency on this.”