New Delhi: The Lok Sabha Secretariat said it has banned the use of non-reusable plastic water bottles and other plastic items within the Parliament complex with effect from Tuesday. All officers and staff of the Secretariat and other allied agencies working in the Parliament House Complex have been asked to comply with the directions, the secretariat said in a statement. They have also been advised to use environment-friendly biodegradable bags and other material, it added.
This initiative by the Lok Sabha Secretariat is a step towards the call by the Prime Minister to the nation to make the country free from plastics, it said.
In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to abandon the use of single-use plastic and take significant steps to achieve this objective by October 2, when the country celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Also Read: Can India Eliminate Single-Use Plastics By 2022?
The Prime Minister said in his address from the Red Fort,
Can we free India from single-use plastic? The time for implementing such an idea has come. May teams be mobilised to work in this direction. Let a significant step be made on October 2.
A number of children, who had come to the Red Fort to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Independence Day address, stayed back to collect the plastic waste, cups and banana peels strewn around the venue after the event, setting an example for others to follow. Many returned home with the prime minister’s message to cut down on plastic use.
Despite plastic being banned in several states and Union Territories, its usage is widespread. The national capital has banned the use, storage, and production of single-use plastic but many continue to use it.
