YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has vowed to make the state plastic-free by 2027 in order to protect the environment in the state.
On Friday, the Jagan government entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Parleys for the Ocean, a US-based Global Network working on environmental issues, to make Andhra Pradesh plastic free by 2027.
Calling it an ambitious project, Jagan said that no one in the country and the world have achieved such a milestone and it gives the government a great pleasure in ensuring that the state will be made plastic pollution-free by 2027.
In a fight against the use of plastic, the chief minister called for a complete ban on plastic Flexi banners and boards in the State. He announced that henceforth there would be a complete ban on flexi banners and one should start using cloth for this purpose, even if it costs a little more.
"We are taking this measure as the first step to ensure a ban on plastic. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam is already following the plastic-free policy in Tirumala and it is yielding good results. Instead of plastic bags, woven cloth bags are used there,” he said.
Stating that the government was slowly taking steps across the State as well, Jagan said the government was trying to create awareness among people about using alternative materials instead of plastic. “This is to make the State free of plastic pollution by the year 2027," the CM announced.
On Friday, the state government, in coordination with the Parleys’s For the Ocean, organised the world’s largest beach cleanup drive in Visakhapatnam on August 26.
The event witnessed an attendance of over 22,000 people participating in the massive clean-up drive, spanning across a stretch of 28 kms – from Gokul beach to Bheemli beach. As part of the largest clean drive, over 76 tonne of plastic was collected.
"We shall continue to lead the country with a goal to end plastic pollution by the year 2027 and set an example to the world," the CM said.