New Delhi: In a first, India’s cleanest city – Indore will host the 8th 3R (Reduce, Reuse And Recycle) Regional Forum that provides a strategic platform for sharing best practices, including new and emerging issues of concern in waste management area. This is being co-organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Government of India, the Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan (MOEJ), and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), under the theme of “Achieving Clean Water, Clean Land and Clean Air through 3R and Resource Efficiency.”
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The Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific was launched way back in 2009 in Tokyo, Japan and since then, the forum has provided a strategic platform for addressing the needs and priorities of 3R in Asian countries. In the last seven years, the Forum has been organised in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Maldives, Japan and Australia and has been instrumental in providing innovative, effective and smart 3R based solutions.
This year, the Forum will be inaugurated by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan in Indore on 9 April and it will continue till 12 April. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the Chief Guest. And it is expected to have representation from 45 countries in Asia and the Pacific region, along with government representatives, including mayors from 106 Indian cities and internationally renowned industry experts.
Speaking about how the Forum can help India achieve its target of a clean nation by 2019, Minister of State and Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri said,
The concept of 3R – “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ has been an integral part of India’s DNA and culture for centuries. Unfortunately, rapid urbanisation and attendant challenges have gradually pushed this concept to the background of urban consciousness. The launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission by Government of India in 2014, with its objective of 100% scientific management of Municipal Solid Waste synergises well with ‘Mission Zero Waste’, the theme of the 8th Regional forum on 3R which is being held at India’s cleanest city Indore. I am confident that the deliberations and the best practices – both international and national – shared in this Forum will enable both India and the Asia-Pacific to assume an even higher level of environmental responsibility in pursuing the tenets of the 3R.
Urging India to fulfill the dream of a waste-free nation, he further added,
“Let us all reaffirm our pledge to ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ and make the concept of ‘Zero Waste’ a reality.”
