Shimla, Dec 20 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh will launch a week-long campaign on Monday to remove polythene bags from roads, hill slopes and other areas in a major community-driven environment protection initiative.
People across the state will participate in the ‘Polythene Hatao, Paryavaran Bachao (remove polythene, save environment)’ campaign.

“It’s another community drive to clean the polythene bags lying scattered in forests, water channels and residential areas. The aim of the campaign is to make the hill state totally non-biodegradable material-free,” Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal told IANS.

“For making the campaign a success, we have roped in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), urban and rural local bodies and eco-clubs set up in colleges and schools. These organisations would work jointly in 17,495 villages and 57 towns in collecting polybags,” said Dhumal, who also holds the environment portfolio.

Himachal Pradesh imposed a ban on Oct 2 on the production, storage, use, sale and distribution of all types of polythene bags made of non-biodegradable materials.

“Though there is a complete ban on the use of polythene in the state, still a large number of used polybags are lying scattered here and there. Our effort now is to totally remove them so that its effect on nature could be minimised as much as possible,” he said.

Dhumal said use of plastic for constructing roads would be the next step towards making the state plastic-free. “The use of plastic waste for surfacing the roads will be the next step for wiping out the non-biodegradable waste. This is a cost-effective method too.”

The Public Works Department has already tarred three stretches of roads on the outskirts of Shimla with plastic-asphalt mix.