Mumbai declares war on beach plastic pollution
NEW DELHI: On Mumbai’s Versova beach, it was once hard to see the sand amid the endless sea of plastic bags and trash. The long stretch of coast had become a dumping site until volunteers banded together to clean it up. A few months later, Olive Ridley turtles began nesting there for the first time in 20 years.
Now municipal authorities are taking a new step in the battle against the plastic waste that afflicts Mumbai and many other cities across India by criminalising plastic bags with fines of up to $366 (R4 950) and jail sentences for repeat offenders.
India actually has a low per
capita plastic consumption of just 11kg compared to Western countries where up to 10 times that is consumed each year, but its cities and water sources are visibly affected by plastic pollution. In Mumbai the long coastline is plagued by floating plastic litter. In the monsoons, when the seas rise and splash over on to roads, piles of plastic trash litter the city’s pavements and roads.
Chains such as Starbucks and McDonald’s have come under fire for failing to replace plastic packaging.
Mumbai is the largest Indian city to enforce the ban, joining a handful of countries such as Kenya and Rwanda to introduce jail time for
using plastic bags. Brought in by the state government of Maharashtra – home to 110 million people – the ban has huge potential to reduce India’s 26 000 tons of daily plastic waste.
“Plastic is like a demon, we all must come together to kill it,” Maharashtra’s Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam said.
The push towards reducing plastic is part of a national effort in India to clean up its cities and towns. In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on world leaders to curb environmental degradation and plastic pollution. “Plastic now threatens to become a menace to humanity. A lot of it never makes it to the recycling bin. Worse, a lot of it is non-biodegradable,” he said.
Bollywood stars have chimed in too, using their social media accounts and appearing in government advertisements to discourage plastic usage.
Critics say the ban will affect small retailers and businesses hard.
Small roadside businesses and market vendors rely on plastic bags to package items in markets. Viren Shah, president of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association, told the Mumbai Mirror that 300 000 small businesses in the city had seen around 50% of their sales drop since the ban.