Meghalaya CM banishes plastic from his office under 'Beat Plastic' drive
New Delhi, June 17: 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.
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".
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RCB beat MI by 18 runs after batters fire
Mumbai (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Kohli (50 off 38 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand for the opening wicket before Patidar scored a rapid 53 off just 20 balls as RCB posted 240 for 4.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 222 for 5, with RCB spinner Suyash Sharma (2/47) putting the skids on the home side with a double strike in the eighth over, from which they could not recover.
Sherfane Rutherford top-scored for MI with an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls.
While opener Rohit Sharma appeared to be struggling with a hamstring issue and had to retire hurt on 19, his partner Ryan Rickelton made 37, while Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Hardik Pandya (40) were the other contributors for MI.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240 for 4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53, Tim David 35 not out).
Mumbai Indians: 222 for 5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2/47).
