As India hosts World Environment Day celebrations, Ram Nath Kovind and Narendra Modi pledge to beat plastic pollution

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged people to reaffirm the commitment to a cleaner and sustainable planet and pledge to beat the plastic pollution. Plastic pollution is also the theme of the World Environment Day, being hosted by India on Tuesday. “On the World Environment Day, we reaffirm our commitment to a cleaner and sustainable planet. India is hosting the global celebrations this year. And we are obligated to bequeathing a greener and eco-friendly legacy to our children,” Kovind said in a tweet. The vice-president pushed for the plastic ban, saying: “Let us take a pledge to ‘beat plastic pollution’, the theme of the World Environment Day. Time has come for every individual to join the campaign to end single-use plastic and protect the environment.” [caption id=“attachment_4404537” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of President Ram Nath Kovind. PTI[/caption] Modi also took to Twitter to greet the people. “Together, let us ensure that our future generations live in a clean and green planet, in harmony with nature,” he said in a tweet. Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar urged people to vow not to use low-grade plastic. “Fifteen thousand tonnes of plastic waste is generated every day, 9,000 tonnes is collected and recycled, but 6,000 tonnes of plastic waste is not collected and remain littered,” Javadekar said. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad emphasised on raising awareness for “a cleaner and greener environment that can lead us to sustainable development”. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also urged people to pledge to “beat plastic pollution”. The Congress also took to Twitter, pledging to protect and preserve the environment, saying, “the Earth doesn’t belong to us but, we belong to the Earth”.