Tamenglong’s deputy commissioner Dr Angshim Dangshawa called upon the natives to utilize the bottle banks rationally to minimize the littering of the one-time-use plastic bottles and thereto prevent the threat to the local environment and human well-being.
TFM Desk
The State’s Directorate of Environment and Climate Change has since been pushing vigorously with its campaign to contain the hazard of plastic items littering the environment causing choking and stagnation of drains and waterways, defiling river banks and pathways, and creating an unfavourable environment that is stinking, rotting and posing a health hazard for commuters and residents alike.
With this thought process in mind, the Directorate launched the introduction of plastic bottle banks for the safe deposit of used one-time plastic bottles in a secured manner without being a threat to the water bodies and human well-being during these past years.
Plastic bottle banks introduced by the Directorate are visible in different localities in urban Imphal and the other districts within the central Manipur valley areas, and now the initiative has reached the uplands with the Tamenglong district administration launching the campaign in earnest on Saturday.
Tamenglong’s deputy commissioner Dr Angshim Dangshawa had the honour to cut the ribbon for the first batch of plastic bottle banks under the Directorate’s initiative while calling upon the natives to utilize the bottle banks rationally to minimize the littering of the one-time-use plastic bottles and thereto prevent the threat to the local environment and human well-being.
Saturday’s launch of the plastic bottle banks was coordinated by the Rainforest Club Tamenglong, a dedicated environment and wildlife organization which since has been working enthusiastically for the protection and restoration of forest ecosystems in the district while generating enthusiasm amongst the local youths for environmental governance. The club members have been extensively involved in the campaign to halt the irrational mass slaughter of the transboundary migratory raptors Amur Falcon during October-November months annually in these past years.
Rainforest Club’s secretary Ramhiamang Gonmei spoke on the need to regulate the random deposit of plastic items on roadsides and river banks leading to ecological and environmental hazards, and urged the locals to utilize the bottle banks in a rational manner in order to streamline the plastic menace in the district. Plastic waste induced ecological and health concerns are a big global issue today, he observed. With the slogan ‘Be the Change’, the bottle banks were installed in ten locations across the district headquarters.
Prelude to the launch of the plastic bottle banks, Rainforest Club Tamenglong members in hand with various church organizations and Fellowships initiated a clean-up drive across the district’s headquarters as prelude to the annual observation of the World Environment Day on 5th June.
Bethel Baptist Church, Sonram Fellowship, Pallong Fellowship, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Chaengdai Namzuan, Model Baptist Church, Town Centre Church, Goshen Fellowship, Taodai Fellowship, Thiulon Bamduan Fellowship, Azuram Agape Fellowship, Tamenglong Baptist Church Council, Tamenglong Baptist Church, Chiuluan Baptist Church, Khangchiuluan Baptist Church and Duigailong Baptist Church worked with the Tamenglong Forest Division and Tamenglong Autonomous District Council to sweep clean the surroundings.
Meanwhile, Rainforest Club Tamenglong is gearing up to conduct a week-long campaign on this year’s World Environment Day observation on the theme “Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience” across the district. Cleanliness drive, observance of Green Sunday, Reels Competition and Tree Plantation along with interactions at the grassroots will mark the observation.