December 25 : Smt. Asha Swaroop, Chief Secretary said that officers and officials should also come forward for cleansing the polythene waste in the State besides involving the people to actively participate in ‘Polythene Hatao-Paryavaran Bachao Abhiyan’ launched by the State Government. Under the Abhiyan, Chief Secretary also participated in cleansing drive near H.P. Secretariat here today.
She said that this special week long campaign was launched by Chief Minister Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal on 21st December, 2009 with a motive to involve the masses and motivate them to make the State Polythene free. She said that nature has bestowed Himachal Pradesh with immense natural grandeur and it is the prime duty of everyone to save the environment from further degradation.
Chief Secretary appealed the people not to litter polythene around their environ but instead store the same at one place so that it could be handed over to the collecting agents. She said that after collecting polythene waste at one place the same would be segregated and further handed over to the Public Works Department so that it could be utilized for mettling of roads. She also urged the students to motivate their near and dear ones to actively involve themselves for the success of the campaign as they are the future of the country.
Smt. Swaroop said that polythene was harmful to the environment as being non-degradable and toxic . She further said that littered polythene also choked the drains and was responsible for spreading various diseases.
Smt. Sarojini Thakur, Additional Chief Secretary, Science and Technology, Smt. Manisha Nanda, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Shri J.S. Rana, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Shri A.N. Sharma, Commissioner, MC, Shimla, Shri Rajneesh Kumar, Director, Urban Development, Shri Nagin Nanda, Director, Pollution Control Board, senior officers of the State Government and students from various educational institutions also collected the polythene waste on the occasion.