Looking for Doable Solutions in Circularity

Tamil Nadu explores the use of novel means like vending machines dispensing cloth bags and online waste exchange platform to fight plastic pollution, says Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change & Forests

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The saying holds true in the case of plastic pollution for Supriya Sahu, an IAS officer. As a collector in early 2000, she successfully led a campaign for plastic-free Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu. Today, more than two decades later, she is again leading the charge against plastic pollution in the entire state. In an interview with Rajiv Tikoo, she talks about what motivated her then, particularly in the absence of laws, and what keeps her going today with the help of technological innovations that can serve as examples for adoption by other states. Edited excerpts:

When you, as a collector, successfully led a campaign for plastic-free Nilgiris in early 2000, you were probably ahead of the times. What was the trigger?

Disturbing visuals of the post-mortem of cattle and elephants, establishing the bitter fact that animals were feeding on plastic, were the prime triggers for the campaign. With water bodies being choked with plastic, the situation was such that I could almost visualise a scenario of death by plastic, and it hit me very hard. It got me thinking about the future of our beautiful district and we decided to act on it.

We were indeed ahead of the times. We neither had any plastic ban notifications, nor any guidelines for reference. We realised that to do something we had to bring together local communities, especially Panchayats and municipalities. Back then it was easier to convince Gram Sabhas as well as municipalities to pass resolutions to ban plastics.

What were the major issues then and how did you address these?

The major threats were plastic bags, plates and disposable cups and we targeted these three items specifically, and then figured out solutions for an alternatives for the banned plastic items.