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".
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
3 held, hunt on for 4 accomplices after they kidnap, assault and urinate on man in Bhopal
Bhopal (PTI): Police have registered a case against seven persons and arrested three of them for allegedly kidnapping, assaulting and urinating on a 22-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, officials said on Thursday.
The incident occurred during the intervening night of April 26 and 27 in an area located under the Hanumanganj police station limits, an official said.
One of the accused urinated on the face of the victim and captured a video of the act, which was later circulated on social media to humiliate him, he said.
"A complaint in this connection was lodged by Jaswant Markam (22), a resident of Kamla Nagar, based on which a case was registered against seven persons under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and police have arrested three of them, including one Prem Thapa," Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said.
Three police teams have been formed and the remaining suspects will be apprehended soon, he said.
During the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, Markam was at the local bus stand with a friend when around 4 am, the accused took him away on the pretext of discussing something with him. They asked him about his neighbour and friend Aniket. When he refused to provide any information, they started assaulting him, the police said.
The accused then took him to a forest in Karond area, where he was stripped and severely thrashed, they said.
When the man began to lose consciousness, one of the accused urinated on his face and made a video of the act, which was circulated on social media to humiliate him and spread terror, according to the police.
The accused called Markam's friend around 5 am to inform him about his condition. The victim was subsequently admitted to a hospital, the officials said, adding that the viral video was also being investigated.
Responding to a query, Hanumanganj police station in-charge Awdhesh Bhadoria said if the victim was found to be from the tribal community, then relevant sections will be invoked against the accused.
At present, the police are probing the incident and search is on to arrest the remaining accused, he added.
In 2023, a man had urinated on a tribal youth in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media platforms and created a controversy.
