‘Single use plastic leads to peril’

DLSA Member-Secretary B.G. Dinesh launches campaign to promote use of cloth bags

Mysore/Mysuru: B.G. Dinesh, Member-Secretary of Mysuru District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), expressed his grave concern over how the unabated use of single use plastic is harming the environment beyond expectations.

He was speaking after inaugurating the drive to prohibit single use plastic and campaign to use cloth bags organised by Karunada Rakshana Vedike, at District Court premises in the city on Thursday.

“If single use plastic is not banned, we would be facing danger in the future, as plastic has emerged as the big menace in the world. We are producing over 400 million tonnes plastic in the world with 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes produced in India. But the withdrawal rate is below 60 percent,” explained Dinesh.

The single use plastic is ending up in lakes, land and oceans, endangering the lives of animals and birds, along with aquatic creatures and also the environment. It takes 500 to 1,000 years for plastic to dissolve in the earth. We have been neglecting the call for plastic ban. If the plastic is exposed to sun rays, it produces a chemical that gets mixed in river water, earth and also ocean. It also enters human body which causes cancer, infertility among several other diseases, warned Dinesh.

“It is estimated that, if we continue to rely on plastic at the current rate for another 25 to 30 years, the quantity of plastic will surpass aquatic creatures and also damage the earth beyond repair. If we don’t check the use of plastic in daily life, we will be leaving the earth full of plastic to next generation. We should vow to stop using plastic, but distribute cloth bags to public which is a good initiative in this regard,” he added.

Mysore Bar Association President M. Mahadevaswamy, Vice-President Puttasiddegowda, Secretary S. Umesh, Karunada Rakshana Vedike State President Basavaraj, Hon. President M. Ramegowda, State General Secretary H.M. Satish, District President K. Venugopal, Vice-President Siddegowda, City President Harshit Gowda, City Vice-President N. Mahesh, State Youth Wing President Sanjay, Raju, Akash, Ravikumar, Santosh, Arun Kumar and Ravi were present.