Minister for Forests K.B. Ganesh Kumar has urged the Travancore Devasom Board to introduce a conditional tender for the supply of packaged drinking water at Sabarimala to ensure that the bidding companies adhere to a buyback arrangement for used bottles.
He was delivering the inaugural address at the State-level Wildlife Week celebrations in the city on Sunday.
He made a request to Devaswom Minister V.S. Sivakumar, who presided over the function, to consider the bids of only those companies that agreed to procure the used bottles at Rs.2.
He said the empty plastic bottles of “Sabari Jalom,” a packaged drinking water scheme of the Forest Department, would be procured at Rs.2. A plant would be set up within a year to improve the production of the packaged water to be sold in public places such as railway stations.
Celebrations
As part of the Wildlife Week celebrations, various competitions in painting, elocution, and essay writing and a quiz will be held at the school and college level.
To initiate active participation and awareness among the public, competitions in wildlife photography and poster-making have been organised.
To create awareness of conservation activities, nature study camps in sanctuaries will be organised for students in selected schools in the State. A wildlife film exhibition will be held during the week in various districts. The celebrations conclude on October 8.
