Gujarat woman’s 1,100-km walk to Delhi to spread awareness on plastic waste

Rajeshwari Singh, a 32-year-old woman from Vadodara, Gujarat has embarked on a 1,100-km walk from her city to the national capital on Sunday.

Gandhinagar, April 23: According to a government report in 2016, more than 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste are generated in India every day, of which 6,000 tonnes remain uncollected and littered. That is a huge amount and if dumped together is as big as a few small hills, at least.

Plastic pollution, a worldwide menace, has already afflicted land, air and water bodies. Environmentalists say if the problem is not addressed immediately, we are sure to lose our beautiful Earth to plastic.

In a step towards reducing the plastic burden of the country, Rajeshwari Singh, a 32-year-old woman from Vadodara, Gujarat has embarked on a 1,100-km walk from her city to the national capital on Sunday.

The beginning of a long and arduous journey of Singh coincided with the Earth Day 2018 which was observed across the globe on Sunday. Her "solitary march" will crisscross through several major cities of the country in a period of 45 days. Singh's endeavour has been supported by the Gujarat tourism department and the United Nations Environment.

"In my awareness walk, I will cover 22 major cities in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and the National Capital Region before I reach Delhi on June 5 which is also the World Environment Day," Singh told reporters.

"A 32-year-old woman from Vadodara started her journey to Delhi on foot to spread awareness about plastic waste. She will cover around 1100 km & will pass through some of the major cities of the country. The event is supported by Gujarat Tourism & UN Environment," tweeted ANI.

A 32-year-old woman from Vadodara started her journey to Delhi on foot to spread awareness about plastic waste. She will cover around 1100 km & will pass through some of the major cities of the country. The event is supported by Gujarat Tourism & UN Environment. pic.twitter.com/wOOVxgbMN1

— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2018

In order to inspire every individual to tackle the issue of plastic menace, Singh is walking with a placard in her hand which says, "My Waste My Responsibility". The idea of walking is to leave almost zero per cent carbon footprint, says Singh.

Moreover, Singh adds that for the last 10 years she is not using any plastic materials. During her journey, Singh, who runs an infotainment firm, will raise money to support her initiative to help rag pickers' community. She is planning to cover at least 30-35 km per day on foot.

Singh will be posting interesting tidbits about her journey on social media. And, yes, if you want to join her in her mission, she has an open invitation to all who care to save the world from the plastic hazard.