New Delhi: After the ban on all kinds of plastic carry bags which will take effect from next year and the ban on the use of plastic bottles in the government offices including the state secretariat, the Maharashtra Government now plans to appoint brand ambassadors to create awareness on the proposed ban in the state. There will be different brand ambassadors for rural and urban parts of the state and the brand ambassador will be a well-known personalities whom people can relate too, confirms the senior environment department official. He adds,
The step is being taken as these brand ambassadors will help reach out to a large number of people and help state achieve its target of 100 per cent plastic-free. Currently, Marathi actress of Sairat fame Rinku Rajguru and Marathi actor Siddharth Jadhav are being considered as Brand Ambassadors, among others.
The official also said that they are trying to rope in famous Bollywood celebrities as well.
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has been asked to approach these personalities and once the ambassadors will be finalised, the campaign to promote the awareness about the ban will begin from March next year.
The Maharashtra government announced the series of plastic ban this year amidst the excessive rains that saw roads in its capital, Mumbai turn into rivers that has just huge volumes of plastic carry bags. The ban on all plastic carry bags and plastic water bottles in government offices and star hotels will be effective from March next year.
Apart from including the well-known personalities who will campaign to promote the plastic ban in the state, Maharashtra has also formed four special teams that will study laws and implementation of the ban in other states.
Recently, state’s Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam asked plastic bottle manufacturers to set up facilities for recycling of bottles. He said,
If plastic bottle manufacturing companies recycle the bottles, it will be very helpful. It is necessary to bring down overall demand for bottles.
If Maharashtra plastic ban becomes successful then it it will be a success model for rest of the country that is still choking under the weight of its plastic waste.
