Dehradun: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday inaugurated the digital deposit refund system of plastic waste management operated by Pollution Control Board at the Secretariat. On this occasion, the Chief Minister himself received digital payment by scanning the plastic bottle with bar code. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the launch of the digital deposit refund system is an important step to protect the environment, reduce plastic consumption and recycle as much plastic as possible and use it. He said that work should be done in coordination to bring the digital deposit refund system to the ground. This initiative will also prove helpful in creating an environment of cleanliness by reducing the consumption of garbage in Char Dham Yatra and other tourist places.
The Chief Minister said that the problem of plastic has become a challenge for the whole world. Plastic comes out as a big problem in religious and tourist places. The state government is taking concrete steps to solve this. While creating an environment of cleanliness in the state, the government is focusing on Clean Uttarakhand, Green Uttarakhand. The natural wealth of the state is an integral part of all our lives, it is also our collective responsibility to keep it safe.
The Chief Minister said that the Digital Deposit Refund System was brought to Uttarakhand as a pilot project 2 years ago. For its successful operation, Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand was also awarded the Digital India Award 2022. He said that rivers, forests, mountains are the heritage and identity of the state. Plastic is endangering these heritages of ours. For the disposal of which the state government is working using science and modern technology. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was started in 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Due to which a new revolution was infused in the field of cleanliness in India. Under the Namami Gange scheme, many works are being done for the cleanliness of Ganga.
On this occasion, it was informed that through the Digital Deposit Refund System, the collection of plastic waste in the hilly areas will become easier. Under DDRS, ‘QR Code System’ will be generated by the units producing plastic bottles / plastic materials, so that after the consumers use the materials stored in plastic packaging, the plastic waste will be returned to the nearest DDRS center and after scanning the bar code, the consumer will be refunded a certain amount on each plastic waste. With the implementation of the digital deposit refund system, plastic waste can be brought back into the circular economy, which will ensure conservation of resources.
On this occasion, Cabinet Minister Satpal Maharaj, Vice Chairman Infrastructure Monitoring Committee Vishwas Dabur, Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, Principal Secretary R.K. Sudhanshu, Chief Forest Conservator Dr. Dhananjay Mohan, Special Secretary / Member Secretary, Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board Dr. Parag Madhukar Dhakate, Additional Secretary Yugal Kishore Pant, Alok Kumar Pandey, and all District Magistrates were present through virtual medium.
