A team of veterinary doctors, led by district veterinary surgeon Dr Kiran Kumar Bisoyi operated on the six-year-old cow for around three hours after it was rescued, they said.
Polythene bags, wrappers and other plastic wastes were removed from the stomach of the cow, Dr Bisoyi said.
The ailing cow was rescued from Vidya Nagar near Courtpeta area four days ago after an animal rights activist reported its condition to the authorities, he said.
The cow was in a critical condition when it was brought to the hospital, he said, adding that clinical examination revealed an accumulation of plastic waste in its stomach.
Stray cattle, which survive on leftovers dumped in polythene bags, end up with plastic in their stomachs, the doctor said.
After the removal of the plastics from its stomach, the cow's condition is stable now, he said.
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya released the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)'s 3rd State Food Safety Index (SFSI) to measure the performance of States across five parameters of food safety.
A total of 21 companies have committed themselves to reduce the levels of virgin plastic in the food and beverage sector. Mandaviya felicitated nine leading States/UTs based on the ranking for the year 2020-21 for their impressive performance. Gujarat has topped among the states, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Mandaviya also flagged off 19 mobile food testing vans (Food Safety on Wheels) to supplement the food safety ecosystem across the country taking the total number of such mobile testing vans to 109. Speaking on the occasion, he said that food is an essential component of health in a holistic sense. "Balanced nutrition is an integral part of health," he stated.
He expressed the hope that the mobile food testing laboratories will not only help functionaries in the States/UTs to enhance their outreach and conduct surveillance activities even in the far-flung areas, but will also be utilized as an effective tool for training and awareness generation activities amongst citizens.
He emphasized that the citizens are a stakeholder for food safety along with Government and Industry, saying, "Pradhan Mantri Shri Narendra Modi Ji says that when one person takes a step forward, only a single step is achieved; however, when the whole country takes just one step forward, the country leaps by 130 cr steps. People who bring attention to issues like food adulteration and low-quality standards automatically benefit other unconscious consumers who might be harmed." He applauded the action taken by the organisation along with industry partners to take the country forward in food safety.
The Union Minister released the results of a pan-India survey for identifying the presence of industrially produced trans fatty acid content in the selected foods. Samples of various packaged food items under six pre-defined food categories were collected from 419 cities/districts across 34 States/UTs. Overall, only 84 samples, i.e. 1.34%, had more than 3% industrially produced trans fats from the total of 6245 samples; India is on the right track of becoming industrial trans fats free in the 75th year of its independence, he said.
Mandaviya launched various initiatives by FSSAI including the Eat Right Research Awards and Grants to encourage and recognize high-quality research in the area of food safety and nutrition in India; a logo for Vegan Foods for easy identification and distinction from non-vegan foods for empowering consumers to make informed food choices.
The Minister also released various e-books that advocate and capture recipes of local seasonal food items, indigenous millets and plant-based sources of protein.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha, in a written reply, that the ministry has issued guidelines for mandatory use of waste plastic in periodic renewal with hot mixes and in wearing coat of service road on national highways within 50km periphery of an urban area having a population of more than 5 lakhs.
The use of plastic waste in the construction of roads protects the environment from the adverse impacts of waste plastic.
Plastic roads consist of 6-8 per cent plastic, while 92-94 per cent is bitumen.
In 2016, Gadkari had announced the usage of plastic waste in road construction in 2016. Since then, plastic waste has been used in constructing roads in 11 states.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report, as much as 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste was generated in India, which is approximately 9,200 tonnes a day (TPD), in 2018-19.
The report stated that the total municipal solid waste generation is 55-65 million tonnes and out of it, plastic waste is approximately 5-6 per cent.
To regulate the use of plastic, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change came up with draft Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2021, which proposes a ban on the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of specific single-use plastic from January 1, 2022.
Specific single-use of plastic include plastic sticks for balloons, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, plastic flags, and thermocol.
"The government is trying to understand to ensure better management of e-waste, but things are not rushing and moving fast at the ground level," Vardhan said here at the inaugural International E-Waste Day.
The Minister said that e-waste is the world's fastest-growing wastestream, and India generates over two million tonnes of it every year, the fourth highest in the world.
The European Association of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum, formed by 27 not-for-profit e-waste companies in 21 countries, has declared October 13 as the International E-Waste Day.
The researchers believe that the findings, published in the journal Current Biology could help devise a biotechnological solution to managing polyethylene waste.
"We have found that the larva of a common insect, Galleria mellonella, is able to biodegrade one of the toughest, most resilient, and most used plastics: polyethylene," said Federica Bertocchini of the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria in Spain.
Although wax worms would not normally eat plastic, the researchers suspect that their ability is a byproduct of their natural habits.
Wax moths lay their eggs inside beehives. The worms hatch and grow on beeswax, which is composed of a highly diverse mixture of lipid compounds.
The researchers said the molecular details of wax biodegradation require further investigation, but it is likely that digesting beeswax and polyethylene involves breaking down similar types of chemical bonds.
"Wax is a polymer, a sort of 'natural plastic,' and has a chemical structure not dissimilar to polyethylene," Bertocchini said.
Bertocchini and her colleagues made the discovery quite by accident, after noticing that plastic bags containing wax worms quickly became riddled with holes.
Further study showed that the worms can do damage to a plastic bag in less than an hour.
Sources said, a discussion regarding this was held during a high level meeting under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary of Odisha Asit Tripathy.
Under the new action plan, the State government has decided to establish plastic waste processing centers in each district of Odisha. Similarly, the Public Works Department (PWD) has also been directed to use disposed plastic wastes in road construction works. In this regard, the government has announced to launch an extensive campaign for collection of SUPs for massive recycling.
Panchayati Raj department has been directed to gradually restrict the use of single use plastics in rural areas under the plastic waste management rule. This apart in order to curb the rampant use of polythenes, the state government has also decided to engage women Self Help Groups (SHGs) for manufacturing paper and cloth-based carry bags.
The State government had announced last year that use of plastic would be banned in the entire state within two years. The prohibition was first implemented in six municipal corporations and later extended to all urban areas recently.
The programme, which started on Monday, entails a meal for anyone who brings a kilogram of used polythene bags, plastic bottles and cups, officials said, adding, it is being carried out under the state government's 'Aahar' scheme.
"Plastic waste chokes drains, traps birds and kills livestock apart from causing serious health hazards to humans.
This is a small step to protect the environment and the health of people," said Alok Samantaray, executive officer, Kotpad NAC.
Under the Odisha government's 'Aahar' scheme, poor people in urban areas of the state are provided a meal comprising rice and 'dalma' (lentils with vegetable) at a cost of Rs 5.
The NAC administration has put up banners and posters at various areas of the town to make people aware about the new initiative, and a special counter has also been opened at the Aahar centre.
At least 10 kg of plastic waste items were received on Monday, and accordingly, 10 meals were given under the 'Aahar' scheme, Samantaray said.
"Seeing the people's enthusiasm about the progamme, we are hopeful that in the next few weeks, we will be able to make the town free from polythene garbage," he said.
The NAC authorities organise regular awareness drives to sensitise residents against the use of polythene bags, the official said.
Expressing his dissatisfaction over littering of the non-bio-degradable wastes in the area, the district Collector slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of them. He also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on owners of six other shops in the city for not dumping waste properly.
Apart from imposing fine, Kulange also urged the shop owners to use dustbins and keep the surroundings clean.
The enforcement team of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), meanwhile, said to have collected fine from one of the liquor outlets.
“A total fine of Rs 2, 60,000 was imposed on eight shops including two liquor outlets by the district Collector himself for littering waste in the vicinity. Till now we have collected Rs 1 lakh from one of the liquor shops,” said Chakravarti Singh Rathore, Commissioner of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).
“Such inspection drive will continue in future also to make Berhampur a plastic-free and clean city in the State,” he added.
Despite ban on single-use plastics (SUPs) in all urban areas by the State government since October, 2019, people and shop owners have been found blatantly flouting the norms.
This is not the first time BeMC authorities have decided to go tough on litterbugs. A few weeks ago, collector Kulange took out an impromptu inspection with several other officials of the Chatrapur NAC and levied fines on several shops for flouting waste disposal rules. He had also slapped hefty fines on six shopkeepers in Annapurna market and SMT road in Berhampur for dumping their store garbage on road earlier in the month.
As per plans, students in schools will be taught on effective collection and disposal of plastic waste in different parts of the city.
A teachers training programme was conducted by BMC in association with UNDP on Thursday in this regard.
BMC officials informed that special bins will be kept in several schools of the Smart City. With the help of teachers, students will be encouraged to dispose all plastic wastes at particular designated points so that they can be easily disposed in a systematic manner, said BMC deputy commissioner, Suvendu Sahu.
He further informed that the administration's aim is to ensure effective collection of plastic waste and its subsequent disposal.
“We are focussing on plastic waste collection from school points. BMC has also set up material recovery facility centres for waste collection. From schools, the plastic waste will be collected by UNDP,” Sahu added.
As all plastic waste has a resale value, it can be sold to various industries after recycle, said the BMC authorities.
The civic body further stated that there are plans to reward schools which will collect maximum plastic waste from their campuses to develop competitiveness and encourage students in the unique initiative.
The initiative is likely to be undertaken after the schools reopens. At present, Odisha government has directed closure of all the educational institutions in Odisha till December 31 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)