Must be mindful of environment, avoid dumping plastic into waterbodies: CM

Panaji: There should be a self-ban on the use of single-use plastic, said chief minister Pramod Sawant while inaugurating a larger-than-life sculpture of the palu fish that was installed at the Miramar circle on Monday.
“People must be mindful of the environment and avoid dumping plastic waste into waterbodies. Efforts must be made to recycle and reuse plastics,” said Sawant.The chief minister further reiterated UN’s projection that there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.
Made from various kinds of single-use plastic waste, the palu sculpture was put up to raise awareness about the threats to marine life due to plastic pollution. The sculpture, which serves as a metaphor for plastic-polluted oceans, was installed and inaugurated to commemorate World Environment Day, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
The artist, Sanjay Shetye, took 1.5 months to collect the plastic waste and eight days to build the sculpture.
“The sculpture will be a daily reminder to people that they must avoid littering the beach else, as a consequence, the waste will end up in the ocean,” he said.
The sculpture entails waste materials such discarded plastic bottles, toys, bags, fish net and packaging material that form its body.
“Through this initiative, we wish to create awareness not only in Goa but all over country that we need to save our seas and the environment. We hope that this sculpture serves as a reminder that we need to help reduce plastic waste not only by the locals, but also the tourists,” said nodal officer for G20, Sanjith Rodrigues.