Rishikesh: Mayor Anita Mamgain calls for ending plastic pollution in Ganga, Rishikesh Ganga Anti-Plastic Expo focuses on plastic alternatives and waste management
Research for plastic pollution in Ganga basin by all women team for CGAPP project
Rishikesh: The Rishikesh Ganga Anti-Plastic Expo, organized by the Center for Global Affairs and Public Policy (CGAPP) on Saturday. The 2-day expo will have an exhibition of start-ups working on plastic alternatives, river cleaning and waste management. The exhibition will continue till April 30 at Parmarth Niketan Ashram. The showcase includes Indian and foreign start-ups, government organizations and civil society organizations such as Waste Warriors, Switcheko, Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board, River Recycle, Recykal, Amwoodo, Plastics Fische, Code Efforts and Nirmalya.
Rishikesh Mayor Anita Mamgain was the chief guest for the inaugural session. The issue of plastic in Ganga was discussed in the inaugural function. He appealed to the participants to take personal responsibility to remove plastic pollution in Ganga and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in the drive to eliminate plastic waste. “The single use plastic ban is a visionary step and needs to be implemented.” For this, we should come together to reduce plastic from every aspect of our lives,” he said. The expo is part of CGAPP’s “Tackling Plastic Pollution in the Ganga Basin” project. The project will also involve research at 12 locations in India and Bangladesh by a one-woman team, who will collect water and birch sap samples to estimate plastic pollution in the Ganges.
The team will travel by boat from Prayagraj to Varanasi and conduct interaction programs with youth, local communities and other stakeholders. It will culminate with a conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dr. Manasi Bal Bhargava, WforW and Project Lead Researcher, explained the methodology and strategy for the project. He also explained his observations during the research leg from April 24 to 28 and introduced the entire team. Dr. Raman Sharma from CSIR-NEERI and Dr. Sara Ahmed from Living Waters Foundation also addressed the gathering. The program started with a musical performance by Sukrit Sen in which he spoke about Ganga and music.
