They may be divided ideologically, but political parties have decided to unite for a common cause while fighting this election in Ernakulam.
The leading political fronts have decided to cut down on using flex boards for their campaign to ensure eco-friendly elections in the 14 Assembly constituencies in the district.
CPI(M) "always wanted to reduce their use"
“The CPI(M) will try its best to reduce the use of flex boards considering its impact on the environment. We always wanted to reduce the use of flex boards, but often could not implement it as other parties had used them widely for during election campaigns,” said P. Rajeev, district secretary of the party
The Congress, which had made an attempt to promote eco-friendly publicity materials during KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran’s Jana Raksha Yatra, would soon ask all its regional units to minimise the use of flex boards. “We have asked them to use cloth banners in as many places as possible instead of the flex boards. Efforts would also be made to reuse the flex boards used during the local body polls,” said V. J. Poulose, president of the district Congress committee.
N.K. Mohandas, district president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said the party would promote wall graffiti to check the indiscriminate use of flex board in elections. “We will encourage cloth banners and also consider using flex boards that are eco-friendly. But it is expensive compared to the commonly used flex boards,” he said.
Cheap rates
A senior member of the Ernakulam unit of Sign Printing Industries Association admitted that the cheap rates for printing a flex board often encouraged political parties to print them in excess. “A 6-feet-by-four-feet flex banner could be printed at a cost of Rs.250. It could be made into a flex board for another Rs.100,” he said.
K. Sajeevan, Chairman of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, said the flex banner was made of pollution-causing material and it emitted toxic fumes when burnt. “The best way to overcome the menace is to transport these flex materials to re-cycling units. A kilogram of such waste could yield up to Rs.10 a kg based on the quality of the material used,” he said.
