On World Environment Day, observed on June 5 each year, India will host “Beat Plastic Pollution” — an event in association with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in New Delhi. But beyond the veil of rhetoric, Indian cities are dirty and most of these generate thousands of tonnes of plastic waste daily which not only pollute the land but also choke our oceans.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a statutory organisation, which keeps an eye on pollution, said in its 2015 report that as many as 60 tier-I and tier-II Indian cities roughly account to the generation of 4,059 tonnes of plastic waste per day.
Therefore, heaps of waste stinking in the corners of the streets of the metropolitan cities is a saddening reality, given that so many claims have been made about making Indian cities clean and green and a systematic collection of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
