Pariksha SaathiMumbai's Jawahar Dweep Becomes India's First Plastic-Free Oil Terminal
Jawahar Dweep Marine Oil Terminal, one of Mumbai Port's key oil-handling facilities, has been declared plastic-free by the Mumbai Port Authority, making it the first oil terminal in India to earn that status. The announcement came on 2 October 2026, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, at a Swachhata Abhiyan 2026 cleanliness programme at Grey Gate, Indira Dock. Sarbananda Sonowal, the Union minister in charge of ports, shipping and waterways, headed the programme, joined by the port authority's Chairperson, Dr M. Angamuthu. During the programme, Sonowal honoured the port's sanitation workers (Safai Karmis) and also dedicated the port's Oil Spill Response (OSR) facilities to the nation. The port authority said it would carry its drive against single-use plastic to its docks, residential colonies and coastal stretches through the year.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
India's nationwide curbs on single-use plastic come from the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021, notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 12 August 2021. From 1 July 2022 they prohibited the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of a listed set of single-use plastic items, such as earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic flags, candy sticks, plastic cutlery and stirrers. Plastic carry bags were not banned outright; instead their minimum thickness was raised to 75 microns from 30 September 2021 and to 120 microns from 31 December 2022.
Reference: Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021 notification (hosted by CPCB)
Check yourself: did the rules that took effect on 1 July 2022 ban every kind of single-use plastic?
No. They prohibited only a notified list of identified items. Carry bags were regulated through a minimum-thickness rule (120 microns from 31 December 2022) rather than banned outright.
Revision task: distinguish the port authority's own plastic-free declaration for Jawahar Dweep from the nationwide legal prohibition under the 2021 rules.
Test yourself
Mumbai Port's Jawahar Dweep Marine Oil Terminal became India's first oil terminal to be declared what?
Show the answer
Answer: Plastic-free
The Mumbai Port Authority declared the terminal plastic-free on 2 October 2026 (Gandhi Jayanti) at a Swachhata Abhiyan programme led by Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
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