Scrap dealer turns green activist,HP buses to get bins for waste collection

Other moves to closely follow are utilisation of nearly 311 tonnes of polythene waste in road construction works,ban on use of plastic cups,plates from August 15,2011 and replacing plastic liquor pouches with glass bottles.

At a stake holders’ meeting organised here on Thursday by Environment Protection department,Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal credited the public for the PM’s Award on polythene ban and invited support to go beyond the success of the polythene ban to make Himachal Pradesh a fully plastic-free state.

After Deputy Commissioners of Mandi,Una and Kullu shared their strategies on success of the polythene ban,Mandi scrap dealer Kuldeep Singh —who has already played a pioneering role in collection of plastic waste,stood-up to announce launching of his “voluntary drive”.

“I am buying a new vehicle,named Prayavaran Mitra Vahan ( Eco-friendly vehicle) which will adopt entire National Highway stretch from Mandi to Manali to collect waste polythene without any assistance from the government. During entire tourists season starting from May 12,I will deploy my men to clean-up the NH of garbage and waste thrown by the tourists. The job will be done on daily basis.”

He was joined by school teacher from Palampur,Rajni Negi,who announced to intensify “poythene hatao” campaign with support of school’s eco-club while Tek Singh Parmar, another school teacher from Joginder Nagar,informed how 161 school children (all members of Eco-Club) have set an example of environment friendly school.

When Anita Sharma,who runs an NGO in Kangra and Chamba spoke on problem of handling the garbage thrown from the running buses and suggested for providing garbage collection bags in buses,Deepak Bhandari from Federation of Industrial Associations declared to provide jute bags in all transport buses for collection of the garbage. “We will also replace the bags,” he said.

Overwhelmed by the participants,Chief Minister said the ‘polythene hatao’ movement in Himachal Pradesh has become a model for the country as now states like Rajasthan,Bihar,Jammu & Kashmir ,Maharashtra and Sikkim are also asking for support and sharing of experiences. Punjab and Delhi are two new states replicating Himachal’s polythene ban. Some states are planning to send teams to study Himachal experience.

Earlier,Chief secretary Rajwant Sandhu and Additional Chief Secretary Sarojini Thakur also spoke on the polythene ban’s success.

Nod for 2 new projects

The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday announced sanctioning of two innovative projects – a Rs 4.96 lakh project for ‘Restoration and Revival of Traditional water Mills’ submitted by World-wide Fund (WWF) for nature and another Rs 6 lakh project on Malana Environment Protection Initiative submitted by Malana Ajivika Vikalp Agri-Horti Growers Marketing and Development Cooperative Society. Two projects were selected out of 114 entries sent by different groups and NGOs under the Environment Protection Fund,set up by the state government. ENS