Plastic takeaway packaging raises serious health and pollution concerns in Amritsar

AMRITSAR : The piping hot chole served with Amritsar’s popular dishes such as puri and bhature, shahi paneer, dal makhni and chicken curry which are often packed in plastic envelopes for takeaway, which may preserve taste and offer convenience but raises concerns among experts over potential health risks when hot food comes in direct contact with plastic.Sandeep Kurl, a social activist who has consistently raised the issue of the garbage dumps in Amritsar especially Bhagatanwala dump with successive governments said even hot tea, boiling milk, karah(sweet pudding) is packed by tea joints and halwai’s in these poly envelopes which not only leaves its harmful traces in the eatables but the used poly bags are mixed with other garbage and is disposed off with it and also catches fire in dumps.Stating that under Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, households, markets and bulk generators are supposed to separate waste into wet, dry , hazardous and sanitary categories but in practice most people don’t do this. Besides he said private companies engaged in door to door collection and transportation are mostly paid on per tonne basis, Since mixed waste is heavier because of moisture content in kitchen waste, sludge etc. and dry waste is lighters the contractors have a financial incentives to prefer and transport mixed unsegregated waste to increase the recorded weight and earn more money.Medical Oncologist Dr Jagdeep Singh said that plastic is made of complex carbon compounds that persist in the environment and can accumulate in the human body through the food chain. “These particles do not disappear. They keep building up in the body over time and may damage cells. Such damage can lead to mutations and increase the risk of several diseases, including cancer,” he said.He said that cancer cases have been witnessing a steady rise in recent years adding that the increasing plastic pollution and the entry of microplastics into the food chain have also emerged as growing concerns and stressed that reducing plastic exposure is an important preventive step for healthier life.While further explaining, he said micro and nanoplastics can enter the bloodstream and be absorbed directly into cells. Once inside they induce oxidative stress, causing physical damage to cellular structure and DNA which can initiate the process of carcinogenesis.Commissioner Amritsar Municipal Corporation Bikramjit Singh Shergill said that the very first step to segregate the garbage lies with the garbage generator that includes wet and dry garbage which also has the plastic envelopes . "Dry waste is money as it is sold after segregation", said he adding that if it is not then they have five Material Recovery Facilities where it is segregated.However, he said that the Corporation is going to install an Integrated Solid Waste Management plant in near future where all types of solid wastes would minimize the environmental impact of the waste.