PM lauds Fever FM’s drive against plastic

Last month, during his monthly radio address to the nation, ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the Prime Minister had pitched for launching a “new mass movement” against single-use plastic from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Fever FM for its campaign to cut down on single-use plastic and also urged shopkeepers to participate in the campaign.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lauded radio station “Fever FM” for its innovative campaign against single-use plastic. (ANI Photo)

“Such efforts will add valuable momentum to the Swachch Bharat Mission @FeverFMOfficial,” he tweeted on Thursday.

It was in his Independent Day speech that PM Modi had first asked people to avoid single- use plastic bags. “I request citizens to see if we can make India single-use plastic-free from October 2 (Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti). Schools, colleges, municipalities, urban bodies, gram panchayats can collect single-use plastic bags from their areas and on October 2, we can take up the task of phasing out single-use plastic bags,” he had said.

Then, he pitched for phasing out single-use plastics completely again at the 14th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification during the opening of the high-level segment recently.” The menace of plastic waste has rendered large tracts of land unproductive and unfit for use,” he said.

Meanwhile, environment minister Prakash Javadekar has said that it’s a voluntary effort. There will be no ban on single-use plastic but the campaign will urge for a phase-out. Around 15, 000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated in India every day, of which only 9,000 tonnes is collected and recycled.