When human beings were restricted from moving about freely, traders downed shutters, and public mass gatherings prohibited after lockdown was imposed in various parts of the world in an attempt to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, wild animals and birds had a field day visiting popular spots and public spaces that were otherwise usually thronged by people. Many took to social media to celebrate this rare sight by sharing unusual pictures of felines wondering on the streets and birds flocking to water bodies situated in the middle of cities. Some proclaimed that nature had reclaimed its lost space while humans got cornered due to the pandemic. In fact, the prolonged lockdown paved the way for nature to heal tremendously at one point of time with air pollution level in some of the most polluted cities dropping drastically and streets looking cleaner as people were forced to stay indoors. But sudden change of lifestyle brought about by the need to combat Covid-19 is threatening to harm nature more extensively now than in the past. While the world is certainly more aware of the need to protect and conserve environment because of the ongoing pandemic, which many experts think could be an outcome of continuous abuse of nature and changes in human activity, some of the causes that the world has been fervently fighting for years have been pushed to the backseat this time.
It is reported that single-use plastic has made a big comeback in India after the outbreak of Covid-19 with increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) like face mask, hand gloves, face shields and other protective kits to contain the spread of the virus. Hospitals are said to be generating tonnes of bio-medical waste daily post coronavirus. All business establishments, especially retail stores, have been asked to use protective gear to mitigate the transmission of the disease. Now, discarded medical wastes including PPE are said to have made its way to the sea, polluting the waters and causing threat to marine life. This is not only posing a big challenge to environment and ecosystem but also a possible health hazard as such wastes can spread the virus if not disposed of properly. If this new development is not checked, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to reduce the use of plastic items will be defeated. Nagaland government too has been vigorously fighting for a cleaner environment, banning single-use plastics in the state and imposing fine on defaulters since last year until coronavirus diverted the cause. The ongoing crisis might have disrupted several initiatives of governments and civil societies but the public should step up during hard times like these, when most government officials are busy with coronavirus-related works, and ensure that note-worthy initiative are not throttled midway. Waste will only increase with the masses being asked to use protective kits, which are mostly made of plastics as well as use-and-throw materials. So, government authorities should ensure that wastes including PPE are disposed of according to the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board. This is the least we can do to allow nature to heal and reclaim itself to some extent.