A drive to rid Srinagar of polythene

Srinagar, Apr 21 (ANI): The municipal corporation of Srinagar, in association with the Trader's Federation, has launched a massive cleaning drive to make the city free of polythene.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) joined the people in the city in their endeavor to rid the city of the rampant menace of polythene and started their campaign from Dal Lake and collected polythene bags from the lake.

"We have taken this initiative to clean the area surrounding Nehru Park and Dal lake and other places so as to clean the environment," said Sunil Kumar, a CRPF personnel.

Raw sewage, land encroachment and years of neglect have been threatening the survival of the lake where visitors from across the world once enjoyed the idyllic stillness of fresh waters surrounded by mountains.

The initiative has been appreciated by the residents.

"The effort CRPF has taken is well appreciated and polythene is a menace, which should be banned all over the world," said Shabir Ahmad, a shopkeeper.

Mohammad Sadiq Bakal, President, Traders And Manufacturers Federation, said that they would ban the second grade polythene bags as they are more hazardous.

"We have decided to ban the second grade polythene bags with Municipal Corporation," said Bakal.

Kashmir water bodies have been under a tremendous threat due to the growing pollution and some experts say that nothing is bigger than the polythene alone.

There are increasing concerns about the unabated use of polythene in the state, particularly among young generation but hitherto government particularly the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has failed to ban the polythene use in the state.

Environmentalists are worried over high growth of polythene waste among the garbage. Use of cheap polythene bags has picked up momentum in recent years in India. But polythene bags, which are not biologically degradable, pose aanger to the environment. By Afzal Butt (ANI)