Chennai: The Tamilnadu government has announced a ban on the use of plastic items, including non-biodegradable carry bags, from January 2019 (under the Environment Protection Act, 1986), and leading by this example, the Raj Bhavan has decided to go plastic-free.
A press release from the Raj Bhavan said plastic items wouldn’t be allowed to enter its premises, and that they would be banned at the entry gate itself.
To create awareness on this issue, Tamilnadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit inaugurated a Perennial Photo Gallery exhibition.
He also released a sticker with the slogan ‘Let’s avoid plastics and prevent cancer.’ The Governor later distributed cloth bags and stickers to every family members in the Raj Bhavan premises.
“It was implemented on 26 October. There are 150 quarters on the premises and cloth bags have been distributed to all the houses as part of a pilot model of banning plastic carry bags. Instructions have been given at the gate to discourage people from bringing in plastic covers. On Thursday, when garbage collectors go door to door, families can hand over the plastic carry bags they have in their house to them,” informed a source.
The source also claimed that single-time use carry bags will be eradicated from the campus gradually, adding that the idea to ban plastic came from the Governor Banwarilal Purohit himself.
“On 2 October, scout members carried out a mass cleaning at the sprawling Raj Bhavan campus, and this led to the idea of making the campus plastic free.”