Ranchi 5th June, 2023: Marking the occasion of World Environment Day, SwitchON Foundation organized Plastic Sculpture Installation where children and youth came together to create art from plastic waste. Children and youth of implementing partners in Ranchi like Hindalco Industries Ltd. & Vivekanand Yuva Samiti enthusiastically participated in the #BeatPlasticPollution campaign and collected a huge trash of plastic that if not collected would have ended up in landfills.
To reduce and reuse waste, especially plastic waste, children and youth of the city took up activities like collection of plastic bottles, polythene, single use plastic like straws, chips and biscuit packets from their surrounding vicinity and used those wastes to create art sculptures. The plastic sculpture which was installed in the (Alumina Club, Hindalco Industries Ltd. Muri, Ranchi) was inaugurated by Mr. Ravi Narayan Mishra (Unit Head, Hindalco Industries Ltd.).
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vinay Jaju, MD SwitchON Foundation said, “Plastic Pollution has become one of the most pressing issues of the environment that is adversely affecting humans, wildlife and its habitats. SwitchON is committed to work towards creating a sense of awareness amongst the children and youth to reduce and reuse plastic waste and come up with solutions to beat plastic pollution. This Environment day , let’s unite against plastic.”
Speaking at the event Mr Ravi Narayan Mishra said, “It is encouraging to witness such an initiative by SwitchON Foundation and its partners to create awareness amongst children and youth how waste plastic can be used in a constructive way.”
SwitchOn Foundation recently released a study on the State of Air Quality in Jharkhand. The study revealed that the concentration of PM2.5 in the state is more than 2.5 times the national standard. A report by the Lancet journal has predicted that nearly 100.2 deaths per 100,000 deaths in Jharkhand occurred due to air pollution. Higher pollutant levels in the air also deteriorate the ecological and aesthetic balance of the region. The National Clean Air Program has set a target of reducing key air pollutants PM10 and PM2.5 (ultra-fine particulate matter) by 20-30% in 2024 taking the pollution levels in 2017 as the base year to improve upon. This is an interim target as the reduction needed to meet air quality standards in many cities is more than 30%. Various modes of transportation, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and crowding of cities have led to the rise in levels of suspended particulate matter, respirable particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and carbon monoxide in the cities of Jharkhand.
SwitchON has approached the Environment Department and State Pollution Control Board to offer in as a knowledge & technical partner for taking immediate and holistic initiatives toward improving the air quality of the state in collaboration with various groups and organizations.
Some of the recommendations by SwitchON Foundation to the Environment Department and State Pollution Control Board for taking immediate and holistic initiatives toward improving the air quality of the state are:
- Technological Innovations: There is a clear need to switch from environmentally exploitative technologies to cheaper and greener alternatives.
- Promoting climate-smart e-agriculture: Promoting climate smart agriculture can turn the wheel in favour of West Bengal’s mitigation plans in tackling a degrading air quality,
- Undertaking reforestation and afforestation drives along roadsides and medians: This is recommended because West Bengal gets rampaged by severe super-cyclones every monsoon. The government should ensure replantation soon after. This can be taken in collaboration with PWD and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
- Promoting sustainable Urban Mobility: The Activities that can be taken up are promoting bicycle lanes, cycling and non-motorized transport, increasing distribution of electric and hybrid vehicles, encouraging electric two/three wheelers, timely technical checking of traffic lights, boosting last mile connectivity through clean/ e-Rickshaws, issuing guidelines for vehicle ownership and usage, mandatory scrapping of very old vehicles, third-party evaluation and certification of the transport systems need to be adopted.
- Action to mitigate air quality requires stringent action plans both at the national as well as sub-national levels coupled with efficient monitoring mechanisms.
- Industrial planning in mitigating air pollution should adopt a three-tier approach that take into account revision of emission standards and practices, improve the audit process and accuracy-based bonus payment system.
- States should follow an integrated waste management system (IWM) to reduce methane and carbon dioxide released from landfills by decomposing organic waste dumped into these waste disposal grounds.
- Air Quality monitors should also be installed in the entire stretch of the East Kolkata Wetlands and the major landfill sites, as the Wetlands act as a major carbon sink for the city and therefore tracking the quality of air around the city would be provide an important database for other departments of the state to formulate policies around it.
- Generating public awareness and liaising with informed citizen bodies, CSOs, and NGOs through sustainable behavioural shifts is key to driving change when formulating policies in mitigating air pollution.
Media Dossier
Contact: Vinay Jaju | M: +91 9331178105 | Email: VJ@SwitchON.org.in
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