NGO seeks to kick the butts from the garbage too

Nagpur: Every year, Indians smoke more than a 100 billion cigarettes and bidis. The butts of these sticks are usually tossed away in the garbage without much thought. A group of doctors has raised concern about this, pointing out that these remnants of cigarettes have toxic chemicals, harm the environment and human health. Their concern has been acknowledged by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that has raised questions on the issue to several agencies of the union government.Two months ago, Mumbai-based NGO Doctors For You that mostly consists of doctors from KEM Hospital had filed a petition on the issue. The NGO wished for the butts to be declared toxic waste. During the first hearing held earlier this month, NGT asked Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) about the harms caused by cigarette/bidi butts and chewing tobacco on the environment.“A cigarette contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are known carcinogens and which get concentrated towards its non-smoking end. The remaining part of a cigarette or bidi that is discarded is non-biodegradable. It pollutes the groundwater, causes forest fires, harms animal and human health,” informed Dr Ravikant Singh, the founder-president of the NGO. He said the activists would like the government to formulate guidelines for proper disposal of cigarette and bidi butts to ensure the harms are minimized or averted. “Smoking is a personal choice made by around 9% adults in India. Cigarette waste consists of unsmoked remnants of tobacco, the filter, and a paper wrap. They also contain carcinogens like nicotine and toxic metals such as cadmium, arsenic and lead in a highly concentrated form,” informed well-known anti-tobacco activist Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, who is a professor and surgeon from Tata Memorial Hospital. He said people who choose to smoke must also take up the responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of the others were not endangered due to their choice.He said he believed it was imperative that the manufacturers looked for biodegradable material to make cigarettes. “While we are not asking for tobacco products to be completely banned, it is now evident that not just cigarettes but even their used butts have the potential of becoming health hazards. Users must be aware of the risks they are putting others at,” said city-based head and neck surgeon Dr Abhishek Vaidya who is also a patron of the NGO Voice of Tobacco Victims. ABOUT CIGARETTE BUTTS -SOME DEMANDS OF THE NGO