Thaindian News

Kolkata, March 5 (IANS) Political parties in West Bengal have been urged to keep the environment clean while campaigning for the assembly elections, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) said Saturday.

“During election campaign, huge quantities of waste materials are generated in making flags, festoons, banners and such materials pose a serious problem for proper disposal,” WBPCB chairman P.N. Roy said.

“Also, there are other issues which cause environmental hazards during election campaign… We have requested political parties to follow rules to ensure a pollution free environment,” Roy said.

The guidelines have been forwarded to all 24 political parties which will contest the six-phase elections.

According to the guidelines, the chief causes of pollution during elections are: use of loudspeakers, vehicles, diesel-run generator sets, plastic and use of trees to put up hoardings and banners.

Political parties have been urged not to use plastic and non-biodegradable material to prepare flags, festoons and banners. Instead, they could use easily available biodegradable materials like cloth and paper.

The parties have also been requested to collect biodegradable materials and send them for recycling after the campaign.

The guidelines also ask the political activists to avoid damaging trees while puting up banners, posters and flags.

“We have also suggested to the parties to use green diesel generator sets and to keep the sets at least 100 metres away from silence zones,” he said.