Rishikesh Ganga Anti-Plastic Expo begins in Delhi

New Delhi, Apr 29(UNI) The Rishikesh Ganga Anti-Plastic Expo, organised by the Centre for Global Affairs & Public Policy (CGAPP), kicked off at Parmarth Niketan Ashram on Saturday.
The two-day event would feature start-ups and solution providers working on plasticalter natives, river cleaning & rejuvenation and waste management.
An exhibition would also be organised by solution providers/start-ups working on plastic waste issues on the banks of Ganga at Parmarth Niketan Ashram.
The exhibition, which would continue till April 30, would witness participation from Indian and foreign start-ups and civil society organisations such as Waste Warriors, Switcheko, Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board, River Recycle, Recykal, Amwoodo, Plastic Fische, CodeEfforts and Nirmalya.
Rishikesh Mayor Anita Mamgain was the Chief Guest at the Inaugural Session, which featured discussions on the issue of plastic waste in the Ganga. She called on participants to take persona lresponsibility for eliminating plastic pollution in the Ganga and applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. “The Single Use Plastic Ban was a visionary step and to implement it, we must come together to reduce plastic from every aspect of our lives,” she said. Following her address, she interacted with the women researchers and signed the banner, printed by Switcheko on sustainable materials, to participate in the CGAPP outreach program oneliminating plastic waste.
The expo is part of the solution component of CGAPP’s project on “Tackling Plastic Pollution in the Ganga Basin.” The project will also feature research in 12 locations in India and Bangladesh by an all women team, who will collect water and sediment samples to estimate plastic pollution in the Ganga. The team will travel by boat from Prayagraj to Varanasi and conduct outreach programs with youth, local communities, and other stakeholders. It will conclude in Dhaka, Bangladesh with a summit at the end of the year.
The session started with a musical performance by Mr. Sukrit Sen, who also explained how music can be a means to connect with water systems. The inauguration also featured a session from Dr. Sara Ahmed, Founder of the Living Waters Museum, which is a virtual museum engaging youth in visualizing water heritage and re-imagining sustainable, inclusive and equitable water futures. She said that the museum offers people a new way to look at water systems and helps us preserve our traditional ties to these systems.
Dr. Raman Sharma, Senior Scientist, CSIR-NEERI shared details on the work being done on plastic pollution in various water systems. He talked about case studies on plastic pollution in water bodies from India and shared his perspective on the socio-economic impact of the Single Use Plastic Ban. Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava, from WforW and Project Lead Researcher, shared the methodology and strategy for the project. She talked about her observations during there search leg, which was held from 24 April to 28 April and introduced the entire team.
Mr. Shantanu Pratap Singh from CGAPP shared the plans of the project and highlighted there search, solution and outreach component and emphasised the need for bringing together all stakeholders on a common platform. The 12 team members are – Anubhuti Shekhar, Monami Bhattacharya, Priyanka Mukherjee, Jasmine Kaur, Moksha Mehta, Preeti Chauhan, KalpanaPatel, Proshakha Maitra, Monica Tiwari, Keerti Mukherjee and Harshita Sehgal. Students from IIT Roorkee and Gurukul Kangri University also assisted with data collection during there search leg.
The next leg of the project will feature an expo in Varanasi later in the year.