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DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

  • 08 August, 2021

  • 7 Min Read

Sundarbans Plastic pollution

Sundarbans Plastic pollution

First, watch this lecture by Ankit Sir on Plastic pollution in India and then read this news, your retention level will increase exponentially.

  • The unregulated inflow of relief to the Sunderbans has resulted in a new crisis in the cyclone-battered region: plastic waste. Several NGOs, experts, and even officials of the District Police and the Forest Department have pointed out that the plastic accumulating on the isolated islands of the fragile ecosystem is cause for great concern.
  • Ecologist Diya Banerjee has been pointing out the issue from as early as June, days after Cyclone Yaas inundated large parts of the Sunderbans in the last week of May 2021.
  • What we are seeing is tonnes of plastic in the remote areas of the Sundarbans, like Gosaba, Mousuni, Bali, Patharpratima and Kultali.
  • People residing in these areas are not responsible in any way for the huge plastic waste; it is outsiders who are introducing and bringing a large number of plastics, completely oblivious and ignorant to its long-term impact on the region.
  • She added that a local NGO Mahajibon had recovered about 300 kg of plastic waste from the Gosaba block days after Cyclone Yaas.
  • While it is difficult to estimate the total amount of plastic waste that is arriving in about 50 inhabited islands of the Sunderbans spread across thousands of square kilometres, Sourav Mukherjee of the Kolkata Society for Cultural Heritage has estimated about 56 tonnes of plastic in the Gosaba block alone.
  • Not only conservationists, but even police officers have also raised concerns over the huge dumping of plastic waste. The police officer urged locals and NGOs to organise cleanliness drives to remove plastic from the Sunderbans.
  • Plastics would have a long-term ecological impact on the Sundarbans ecosystem.
  • The presence of plastic in saline water will increase the toxicity of water gradually and also there will be eutrophication of water. Because of the presence of plastics in the water, there will be an increase in microplastics, which will slowly enter the food system.
  • Sunderbans were connected to the sea and the increase of plastic in the region could lead to plastic waste entering the ocean.

For a complete note on Plastic waste management in India: click here

Source: TH


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