No plastic zones have been declared in Amrabad Tiger Reserve (ATR) to mark the World Environment Day with Beat Plastic Pollution as its theme.
The programme to ban use of single-use plastic bags was launched as a joint initiative of World Wide Fund -India, Hyderabad Office and the ATR authorities on Tuesday.
Under the initiative, the teams started handing over paper bags to tourist vehicles entering the tiger reserve to throw away their garbage. The paper bags with refuse would be collected back at Mannanur and Domalpenta check post.
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State director of WWF-India Farida Tampal said that the initiative was an attempt to stop tourists from throwing garbage into the forests. They would also encourage shopkeepers in the tiger reserve to replace plastic bags in their shops with paper bags manufactured by Chenchu women. The initiative would be a win-win for the forest and the local community women, she told
Amrabad Tiger Reserve Field Director C. P. Vinod Kumar, who launched the initiative along with WWF-India, said that every citizen or visitor passing through the Tiger Reserve should feel responsible for the environment and wildlife and contribute towards making the tiger reserve a plastic-free zone.
He appealed to the people cooperate with the Forest Department in preventing plastic pollution and secure the wildlife and habitats in the State.
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Three teams of rag pickers with four new bicycles and one auto trolley started collecting garbage on Tuesday — World Environment Day — to create awareness among the tourists. A Kala Jatara was also organised to reach out to the public at the Environment Educational Centre with the folk artistes singing songs specifically with a message to beat plastic pollution. The day also saw an interaction with Chenchu tribal women community to explain about paper bag making enterprise.
Ms. Farida Tampal said the Chenchu women would be organised into groups in their respective habitations and they would be trained to prepare paper bags.
In addition talks have also been scheduled at schools and a few corporate offices in the city. A bird watch and photography event with United Way of Hyderabad and Wells Fargo has been planned at the Khajaguda Lake. The lake will be taken up for restoration jointly by the three organizations, she said.