ITANAGAR, 5 Jun: Members of the Youth Mission for Clean River and the Abralow Memorial Multipurpose Society organised a river cleaning drive at Energy Park here on Monday, in collaboration with the Polo Colony Youth Welfare Association and the Itanagar Smart City Development Corporation, to mark the World Environment Day (WED).
More than 100 volunteers cleaned up the clogged-up Yagamso river, removing about two trucks full of garbage from the river.
Highlighting this year’s WED theme, ‘Solutions to plastic pollution’, Mission Clean Yagamso (MCY) coordinator Prem Taba said that “there is a serious threat of plastic pollution to rivers and streams across the capital and the state,” and stressed on the importance of segregating biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes before giving them to the municipal vehicles for proper disposal.
“There will be serious consequences to the present and future generations if we do not look and address the menace of plastic pollution now,” Taba said.
Stating that the cleaning drive was aimed that sensitising the community to the importance of saving the rivers and streams that exist, he said: “The pollution of rivers and streams cannot be controlled if we don’t start this process right from our homes and communities and have a sense of responsibility for proper waste disposal.”
“The biggest disadvantage of plastic is that it is non-biodegradable and does not decompose for ages, and therefore they are not environmentally friendly, threatening wildlife and spreading toxins,” he added.
MCY co-coordinator Keyom Doni said: “We must use alternatives like cloth bags and paper bags instead of plastic bags. If we are purchasing plastic, we must reuse it. We must avoid drinking bottled water, which contributes largely to plastic pollution. The government must ban the use of plastic.”
Doni said that the MCY is “trying to spread awareness through various campaigns and reaching out to vendors, houses, school students, and all the citizens of the catchment area to abandon the use of single-use plastic that are really harming the environment and increasing water pollution.”
Among others, members of the Arunachal Pradesh Psychological Association, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, and The Vision joined the drive.
