Amit Shah urges women to shun plastic bags in order to save environment

Mumbai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday urged women not to use plastic bags and suggested that they carry cloth bags for shopping.

Shah said the Centre was also mulling to take strong steps to stop the production of single-use plastic in a bid to save the environment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a resolve of Swachh Bharat (clean India). But, plastic is the biggest hindrance in realising that vision, he said.

Shah was addressing a gathering near Gujarat Science City, Indian Express reported.

"Sisters who carry home vegetables purchased in plastic bags, might perhaps not know that these bags prevent seepage of water into the ground. Our society that considers cow as mother, cannot imagine the pain it goes through after kilograms of plastic that it has ingested is taken out from its stomach,” he told a gathering organised near Gujarat Science City that falls under this Lok Sabha constituency, he said.

"That is why our PM, in his Independence Day speech, urged the citizens to take up a movement against plastic from October 2 (Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary)," Shah said.

"I urge all the women to stop the use of plastic bags while going out for shopping. Instead, they can carry a cloth bag, which would last for 10 years," he said.