6 days ago
Sabuj Mancha on plastic pollution threat to rivers
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Kolkata: Physical surveys conducted across districts of Bengal by Sabuj Mancha reveal that riverbeds in the region are choked with plastic waste, putting freshwater aquatic biodiversity under severe existential threat.
If these riverbeds continue on this trajectory, they risk turning into dead zones—akin to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—spelling disaster for Bengal's freshwater ecosystems.
"Almost every day, tonnes of plastics are being dumped in the rivers, much of which is flowing into the sea. The microplastics are easily entering our food chain through fish. However, the riverbeds, which are the greatest aquatic biodiversity zones, are fast turning into dead zones.
It is high time citizens take action and hold both rural and urban local bodies to task," said Naba Dutta, secretary, Sabuj Mancha, an umbrella organisation for environmental groups and individuals.
Dutta said that no water body is spared from plastic pollution, be it a pond, canal, or lake. The main reason is that none of the 128 municipal bodies have adopted the Waste Management Rule, 2016, in its totality. Moreover, the steps against the manufacturing of single-use plastic are not only slack but non-existent in most places.
