Delhi: Hungerstrike for complete ban on plastic

New Delhi: On October 2, when the government was celebrating the third anniversary of its dream project Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan, Madhusudan Biswas, a resident of 24 Parganas in West Bengal sat on an indefinite hungerstrike at Jantar Mantar in the capital, demanding a complete ban on plastic and thermocol products.

Thirty-four-year-old Mr Biswas, a teacher by profession, sat on his third hungerstrike for environment with a hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might recognise the seriousness of the issue, as “we both want a Swacchhh Bharat and polythene-free India”, he said.  

Mr Biswas’ previous hunger strikes were in his hometown in West Bengal where he sat for nine days without food, but when the district administration said that the matter can be looked into only by the Centre and not the states, he came thousands of kilometres to Delhi “to be heard by the central government”.

He said, “Every moment we survive with the help of three components: water, oxygen, and food. Oxygen and food we get from soil, and there are few products that destroy soil, as well as water and to protect them from being contaminated we must ban thermocol, flex and plastic bags.” 

“There are millions of products which could be used as an alternate of plastic products like jute and paper and cloth can be used as a replacement of flex,” Mr Biswas added.

The Supreme Court had recently reiterated its ban on plastic bags, saying that they are a bigger threat to the country than nuclear bombs.

“So we should look for a better substitute of this toxic called plastic. Use of jute as an alternate will not only help in nurturing environment, but it will also trigger the farming and business involving jute. Jute, as is known, is a product of soil and soil doesn’t harm soil unlike plastic,” Mr Biswas said.