Tobacco products are chewing into Punjab’s ecology. The latest study revealed that tobacco waste equivalent to no less than 7.38 lakh plastic buckets were being generated in Punjab every year.

The revelations were made by Punjab’s Environment Department’s joint director Gurharinder Singh, who cited a study conducted by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease entitled “Environmental burden due to tobacco product waste in India”.

“Every year, plastic waste generated due to tobacco products in Punjab is equivalent to 7,38,360 plastic buckets,” said Gurharinder Singh during the state-level workshop on ‘Promotion, Adoption, and Implementation of New Initiatives for Tobacco Control and Establishing Tobacco and Smoke Free Jurisdictions in Punjab’, held by Generation Saviour Association (GSA) with the support of ‘The Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases’. Various stakeholder departments, under the National Tobacco Control Programme from Punjab, were part of the workshop.

He said: “The study is very crucial to bring to light the harmful impact of tobacco on our environment.”

As per the study, total waste, that includes paper, plastic, foil, and filter, generated by all the tobacco products per year is 1,723.87 tonnes. The total waste produced per year by Cigarette is 420.95 tonnes, while total waste produced per year by bidi is 255.93 tonnes, and the total waste produced per year by smokeless tobacco is 1,047 tonnes.

Addressing the gathering, The Union’s Deputy Regional Director Dr Rana J Singh said: “As it is a known fact that tobacco control is one of the key priority in Punjab and it is proactive in the implementation of the program in full letter and spirit. But lately, it has been observed that advent of new tobacco products are posing a serious threat to tobacco control laws and policies and therefore there is a need for Promotion, Adoption and Implementation of New Initiatives for Tobacco Control and Establishing Tobacco and Smoke Free Jurisdictions in Punjab.”

GSA head Opinder Preet Kaur Gill, deliberating on ways of eliminating emerging threats in tobacco control, said that there is a need to curb increasing tobacco industry interference and strengthen the already existing laws and policies in which non-governmental organisations can play a pivotal role.

Narendra Ahooja, who has recently retired from the post of Haryana’s State Drug Controller, lamented the increasing use of e-cigarettes by youth. “One of the biggest threats is the marketing the e-cigarettes companies are doing. They are labelled as healthy alternatives to cigarettes. While teenagers are getting attracted to e-cigarettes, little do they realise how harmful nicotine is for them,” he said.

He also congratulated the Union Ministry for coming up with legislation on banning nationwide ban on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), which has made e-cigarette use and sale illegal in India.

Dr Rita Kotwal Choudhary and Dr Jaskirandeep Kaur, State Nodal Officer in Haryana and Punjab, said that both states will make joint efforts to curb tobacco in the region.