IBPS RRB PO Mains 25 Sep 2021 Paper

Question Numbers: 129-136
DIRECTIONS: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
Last week, I spent two days at an “eco-friendly” homestay near Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. On day one, the owner, a nature enthusiast who has done ________ work in regenerating large tracts of forests, gave me a list of dos and don’ts. But what alarmed me was the fact that he did not have a plastic waste collection/recycling plan in place. When I asked what they do with their plastic waste, the staff said that they either burn or bury it. Both are terrible practices. Burning plastic in open air releases carcinogenic gases (dioxin and furan), and burying it means it stays in the environment for years. And when it breaks down, plastics release toxic chemicals, polluting the soil and groundwater. This practice of burning/burying plastics is common because of three reasons — the lack of awareness, lax governance and inspection, and non-existent waste collection-and-disposal/recycling systems.
India’s plastic challenge is enormous. The country generates approximately 25,940 tonnes per day (TPD) of plastic waste. Of this, around 15,600 TPD gets recycled. On World Environment Day (June 5), 2018, the then environment minister Harsh Vardhan announced that SUP will be phased out by 2020 — a deadline subsequently revised to 2022. In his August 15 speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked citizens to free the country from SUP and hinted at an announcement on October 2. However, this did not happen. Analysts believe the government is under pressure from the industry to refrain from banning plastics because the measure would be too disruptive at a time when India is coping with an economic slowdown and job losses. A representative of the All India Plastic Manufacturers Association told The Print that there are over 50,000 plastic manufacturing industrial units, employing four to five million people. This number was compelling (1)/, and even in good times (2)/, a government will think (3)/ twice before imposing a ban. (4)/
There is another problem too. Despite the burgeoning plastic menace, there is still no clear definition of SUP. Simply put, SUP means products that are used once and then discarded. the Centre will ask states (1) / using some SUP products (2)/ such as polythene bags and styrofoam (3)/ to enforce existing rules against storing, manufacturing and (4)/ according to a report, for now (5). Unfortunately, the track record of states in implementing this has been patchy.
Instead of a no-ban on SUPs, the least the Centre could have done was ban six SUPs — plastic bags, cups, plates, small bottles, straws, and certain types of sachets — and then others in a phased manner. By opting for short-term relief, we have only aggravated our long-term problems. Of the total plastic generated, 19% are of chips and confectionery packets, 12% bottle caps, and lids, 10% are PET bottles and 7% are straws. Around 60 countries have already banned single-use plastic fully or partially.
With a spike in tourists going to these places, who will ensure that plastic poison doesn’t enter the ______of the ecosystem, pollute the oceans, the streams, and the mountains?