Shopkeepers and passers-by on Thursday evening were approached by men and women wearing green caps, who distributed pamphlets explaining the hazards of plastics and the recent ban on thin plastics of thickness 50 microns and below.
Representatives of 18 non-governmental organisations gathered on M.G. Road to kick-start the awareness campaign on the plastic ban. This is the first course of action according to the plan formulated by the core group of participating NGOs and the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee (PPCC) in meetings held over the last few months.
Some ward councillors of the Oulgaret Municipality and members of the State Government Employees' Associations also participated in the campaign.
Cooperation of the public
“Many Government Orders fail to achieve complete success owing to the lack of awareness and cooperation of the public. Our aim is to create awareness among all citizens,” an official of the PPCC said.
“We will be distributing these pamphlets to all commercial establishments including tea shops, stockists, distributors and vendors in Puducherry.
“A hoarding has already been erected at the bus stand. Soon, hoardings will be put up in other strategic locations across the town. During summer vacation, we will be working with the State Training Centre, to involve National Green Corps of many schools in the awareness campaign,” the official said.
Apart from this campaign, each NGO would also be involved in its own initiative to create awareness.
An NGO plans to stage street plays in villages, while others would be conducting rallies and distributing saplings in different parts of the Union Territory.
Each of these initiatives would be funded by the PPCC, which has received funds from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
“We also hope funds will be allocated for this awareness campaign this financial year,” the official added.
