NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday invoked environmental hazard, cow, and Mahatma Gandhi to urge citizens to shun single-use plastic for a pollution-free and clean India. Speaking at the ‘Sankalp Yatra’ (pledge march) held to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi in the national capital, Shah asked BJP workers to take Gandhi’s message of non-violence to people and undertake initiatives to make the campaign a mass movement.
The BJP chief also highlighted the perils of single-use plastic. “Single-use plastic is a threat to the earth. Plastic doesn’t allow water to percolate into the soil hence grains don’t get required nutrition. It takes nearly 400 years for the plastic to degrade. It leads to toxicity in the water,” he said.
Present on the occasion were Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari with several other party leaders.
Referring to the PM’s call to make India open defecation free and Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan of 2014, Shah said it was Gandhi, who always advocated sanitation, and after Independence, no PM initiated the sanitation campaign but Modi did. “Gandhi was the ambassador of cleanliness and after Independence, Modi is the only PM who has made it a mass movement.”
‘Shun plastic’
Amit Shah said animals are adversely affected due to single-use plastic, it’s dangerous to the country.