While Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has declared that the polythene ban will be strictly enforced in the State from July 31 onward, voluntary groups have stressed that the people can play a vital role in this by avoiding the use of polythene bags. The groups working with the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun for raising awareness on the polythene ban have also exhorted the public to desist from using the banned polythene.
Naveen Kumar Sadana of Waste Warriors said,“If we compare the condition of Dehradun from any other city in Uttarakhand, we are far more active in generating plastic waste. The main problem is we don’t have treatment plants to process the waste. Another problem is that due to the concentration of a considerable population in one place, more waste especially that consisting of empty food packaging made from plastic is being generated here. We have requested the prominent companies producing and selling popular snacks and food items to help minimise the waste which their products are creating but we are not the Government. Hence, awareness is what is needed here to curb such waste generation."
Researcher and head of Do No Waste group, Saumya Prasad said, “There has been very little impact among the people from the time we have started campaigns for awareness. The basic problem is lack of awareness and the casual attitude of people towards waste generation. It is stupid to talk about plastic waste only on special occasions like the World Environment Day. If we really want to save the only planet we have then we need to switch our habits and use alternatives like cloth bags or reuse plastic. These little changes are the only way we can prevent the situation from turning much worse in the future."