Government bodies fail to adopt the new change on the water bottles
Apoorva GS
Despite the warnings issued by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to deter the use of single-use plastic, plastic water bottles can be seen in the press meets and BBMP events.
BBMP implemented the ban on single-use plastic in August 2019. It had also ordered that no plastic bottles should be used in the government events. But BBMP has failed to successfully implement this rule. Dr. Sandhya, BBMP’s Nodal Health Officer said, “Though we try insisting government officials not to use plastic bottles and recommend using glass and steel bottles instead, they are unable to judge the reason behind it. Success rate of this rule would not even be 20 per cent.
“Event organisers who organise the government events seem to be unaware of the new rule and hence use the plastic bottles. So we are planning to impose penalties on government officials, if they are seen using single use plastic water bottles,” she added.
P. Vishwanath, Chief Engineer of Solid Waste Management (SWM) told The Softcopy about the positive response to the new rule by the people. “ Plastic waste has been reduced by 50 per cent in the city since the ban on single-use plastic. However, we have failed to contain the use of plastic water bottles by the government officials. It is high time for them to realise their responsibility and behave accordingly.”
Sandeep Anirudhhan, an environmentalist said, “Plastic waste is dumped in landfills. This affects the fertility of the soil.. The plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade. When mixed with water, toxic chemicals leak out from plastic and this causes pollution of water. So it is high time we all switch from plastic to environment-friendly products.
