Sri Lanka can learn from India on scoring on environment

The government named the period starting from May 30 to June 5 as the ‘National Environmental Week’

Many years ago, foreign news editors and environmentalists were shocked to see a photograph of a dead fish floating on a pond alongside a single-use plastic wrapper that was uploaded to the Agence France-Presse, better known as AFP. The year was 2022 and the date was September 28. The country where the photograph was produced was India, a nation that is guilty of producing 1/5 of the plastic garbage annually produced in the world.  

The single-use wrapper is of a favourite snack in India; Britannia Tiger Glucose. So we have to imagine that a child ate the contents (biscuits) and threw the wrapper into the pond, which apparently is situated in a Hindu Temple premises. Now, when we put together all the bits and pieces of information given in the picture caption, we can clearly observe that environmental pollution is a topic which sends chills down your spine.   

To create awareness on the importance of the environment, we celebrate World Environment Day. For the records, this day was marked yesterday (June 5), and the theme this year was ‘Putting an end to plastic pollution’. For an event or practice to be noted in the global calendar, there must be a tradition or a long history associated with it. World Environment Day was established in 1972 during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. So this event or day has a long history and that part of the equation which makes this day popular is complete. In today’s internet and social media jargon, there is something more positive about World Environment Day. This day is considered as the largest international platform dedicated to creating awareness on a topic that generates great concern. This could be why no nation neglects the promotional aspect of World Environment Day.   

In Sri Lanka, yesterday, as shown on Rupavahini, there was a government programme highlighting the importance of World Environment Day. It was held in Kegalle and much of the time was spent on discussing the importance of protecting and nurturing a fish native to Sri Lanka. That fish is named Bandula barb (Pethia Bandula). What was underscored by the authorities was that this breed of fish was found mostly in privately owned lands, hence the government was requesting the help of the people to protect this rare species of fish.   

For the record, the government named the period starting from May 30 to June 5 as the ‘National Environmental Week’. Many activities were put on the cards; some of them being Plastic Waste Management Day, Environmental Cleanliness Awareness Day, Biodiversity Conservation Day and Tree Planting and National Celebration of World Environment Day.   

This author has a choice of writing about South Korea’s renowned environmental initiatives or redirecting our thoughts back to India (we made mention of this country in a negative manner at the inception of this column). We chose India because there is also so much good that’s associated with almost any topic the Bharat nation gets involved in. India produced a hilarious advertisement in 2018 that caught global attention. On a football field in India, a reporter asks the coach to rate his players and the answer is a surprising ‘useless’. A baffled reporter then sees water being served to players in metal tumblers and the coach himself uses a metal cup to drink water. Then all eyes shift towards a player who seems to be the only one using a plastic bottle to drink water. The coach blurts out the one word catchphrase ‘useless’ again. He is implying that players must use less plastic bottles when drinking water during training.   

While India basks in the glory of producing that memorable advertisement, let’s quickly mention that South Korea was officially selected to launch World Environment Day 2025. This is because Jeju-do Province in the Republic of Korea is renowned for its environmental initiatives and sustainable living patterns. Jeju-do has plans to eliminate plastic by 2040. Now that would be an achievement if South Korea succeeds in this initiative!