Meghalaya CM banishes plastic from his office under 'Beat Plastic' drive

New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) Admitting increasing plastic consumption is a rising threat to his state, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said he had personally quit using plastic as well as barring it from his office.

Asserting that it will take some time to address the plastic menace as people are use to using it, India's second-most youngest Chief Minister, who hails from one of the greenest and cleanest states, says he believes in leading by example and has adopted a top-down approach.

Speaking to IANS here, Sangma hoped that following his own resolve, the entire secretariat and other state offices follow. 

He also raised concern over lack of mechanism of collecting waste plastic from rural and remote areas.

"We can begin by simply saying no to the plastic bottles and carry aluminium or steel bottles," said Sangma, who was here to attend NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.

He asserted that its very important to keep the momentum against plastic moving and not confining it to the Environment Day alone.

He also said that the state government is stressing upon recycling.

Asked if his state is suffering from plastic waste, Sangma said: "Absolutely".

"If you look at most of our towns or cities, you will see that a lot of streams are choked up because of the plastic which is there. It is a matter of extreme concern for us. 

"In the rural areas there is no mechanism to actually check the use of low grade plastic, that's a big concern... we are realising the challenges and also taking steps to assure that the issues are take care off," he said.

Speaking of plastic waste alone, approximately 900,000 tonnes of PET -- used to make soft drink bottles, furniture, carpet, paneling, etc. -- was produced in India in 2015-16, as reported by the National Chemical Laboratory.

The issue was bought under light with the World Environment Day-2018 on June 5 hosted by India with theme "Beat plastic pollution".