Goa’s normal date with the monsoon has not happened this year. It is delayed, and with the monsoon yet to hit Kerala, it could be sometime next week that the monsoon clouds open up over Goa, a delay of about ten days. Goa’s monsoons have been displaying a mind of their own in recent years, and are getting proverbially most unpredictable.
While scientists will look at data to link this to climate change, which is affecting weather patterns the world over, there are also other environmental concerns that Goa can look at and find solutions to at the micro-level.
World Environment Day passed by in Goa with little more than a passing reference to it and its theme. The “#BeatPlasticPollution” theme received cursory attention from the government, indicating just how serious or rather non-serious the government is about tackling plastic and reducing its use.
In theory, Goa has taken massive steps in ending plastic pollution. The state has laws in place to stop the use of one-time plastics and take action against those breaking the rules.
It has made announcements at various points in time that plastics will be banned, and that persons using one-time plastics will be fined, but when it has come to implementing these rules, there has been a failure.
Imagine, on October 2, 2019, Goa banned the use of plastic water bottles, glasses and plates from all its departments and instead sought those items which are eco-friendly and reusable to be utilised. Earlier, that same year, the Goa Legislative Assembly had passed the bill banning the manufacture, import, store, transport or sale of plastic carry bags and single-use items, with the bill specifying fines and penalties for violations.
In July, last year, the Goa State Pollution Control Board issued a notification banning all single-use plastics in the state. A crackdown was to follow, but all it takes is a cursory walk through the markets of Goa to see that single-use plastics are still being used.
A simple reason for the continued use of single-use plastics is that while the law to curb its use or stop it entirely exists, the implementation has failed. In that respect, Goa’s battle – if at all it can be called that – with single-use plastic has been carrying on for years with no conclusion in sight.
The state, and even the local municipalities, have notified the ban on the use of such plastic. The failure stems from the fact that little is done to implement the ban.
Just threats of fines and notices banning plastics have not and will not work, even if the directions for this come directly from the Centre. The bans are hurriedly announced, only to meet the deadlines from the Centre, with little or no implementation.
It, however, won’t suffice to only implement the ban. Its success will depend on alternatives to the plastics available. The state has to promote alternatives which would include bags made of jute, cloth or paper.
It doesn’t end there, but goes further, as other than bags, there are also plastic straws and stirrers for which replacements have to be found. Paper straws are already in use across most restaurants in Goa, but would it be possible to find a reusable material for straws which would also be cost-effective?
Businesses will willingly change to a new item depending on the cost of the replacement. The economics of this is also important.
The main reason why plastic captured the markets across the world was the relatively cheap price of the product. To change this, the alternatives have to match the price of plastic if not better it. That is another challenge, not just for Goa, but throughout the world.
Goa has to change gears on beating plastic pollution. Plastic leads to not just environmental pollution, but can be a threat to people’s health and also that of animals, especially in the sea.
Until now, the efforts aimed at making the state plastic free appear to have yielded no tangible results. The only hope can be that the results will be seen from here onwards.
Being small in size, Goa could have led the way by becoming the first plastic-free state. It can still aim for that. With the relevant laws existing, the only thing holding it back is the lack of will to make it happen.
