Shimla: For its sustained campaign against usage of plastic bags, Himachal Pradesh by being conferred with Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2009-10 has boosted the states initiative in sustainable plastic waste management.
Pegging it as another feather in the states cap about performance in various fields during, over the last three years, a government spokesman said, “this award has proved that the state’s efforts in environment preservation and conservation have not only been acknowledged but recognized beyond that.â€
by adopting innovative strategies for protecting the fragile ecology of Himalayas, the state has been taking pioneering efforts in environment protection.
In fact it has emerged as the first state in the country that is seriously working to achieve carbon neutrality, the spokesman said. The state has drawn up a master plan with assistance from World Bank for making Himachal a Carbon Neutral region.
having completely banned usage of plastic carry bags, the states intends to enforce a complete ban on plastic cups, plates and tumblers from 15th August, 2011.
State sponsored ‘Polythene Hatao Paryavaran Bachao’, has involved NGOs, government departments, institutions, panchayats, urban local bodies and rag pickers to collect waste polythene garbage.
The government offered a buyback scheme for the waste plastic at Rs 3 per Kg, which was shred and mixed with bitumen for road surfacing. A total of 311 tons of plastic waste was collected that was used to tar 300 Kms of roads.
Inspired by Himachal’s success, states like Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra have sought help for providing a model for plastic waste management that they could adopt.
Its a fraud award for fraud achievement !
I can send thousands of Plastic garbage pictures from Manali, Just near ex PM house….at Manali, a small hill rivulet is flooded with plastic garbage, bottles thrown by people living nearby…when a high profile VVIP persons residence is having this scene nearby what more can be expected out of common places in rest of the state …This award is a Joke and Jokers are participating in it ! Everyone knows that !
On my visit to Nadaun, I shocked to see the small rivulet merging with river Beas is full of tons of plastic waste littered all along the dry bank of Beas, no one is thinking, bothering about the waste, Dear Govt : mere banning of poly bags will not solve the problem, it needs proper structure of recylcle collection,strict penalties,campaign to educate and so on.
Well said, the media is not mature enough to show the reality, people with vested interests keep praising politicians and fake government publicity stunts !
Himachal Tourism is the biggest consumer of Plastic Bottles In State Run Hotels, Their own soaps come in packing of Plastics, what more is needed to laugh on Plastic Control initiatives in Himachal !
Regarding condition of Rivers, small rivulets, a picture gallery of plastic Garbage and plastic waste effected towns should be presented to PM Manmohan Singh along with CM of Himachal Pradesh, Pollution Control Board of Himachal Pradesh to nominate state for negligence in waste management and claiming fake publicity stunts !