Kangra forests turn a plastic dump

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, June 16

With the tourist season at its peak in the Kangra valley these days, the plastics junk littered in most forest can destroy the ecology of the hill state, if the authorities concerned do not act now.

Plastic covers, water bottles, chips packets and sweet foils are a common site in Palampur, Bir Billing, Jwalamukhi, Kangra, aijnath,McLeodganj and Dharamsala despite a ban on the sale and use of plastic by the state. Most of the forestland and picnic spots are littered with plastic items and there is no one to remove these.

Government agencies responsible for managing the affairs have become a mute spectator allowing the dumping of plastic in forest land and local rivulets. The forests along the roads of Bir-Billing, Dharmsala-McLeodganj, Mubarkpur- Kangra, Pathankot-Mandi and Palampur-Dharamsala have virtually turned into a dumping ground. Environmentalists attribute the careless dumping of plastic items by tourists to lethargic monitoring of officials involved in the conservation of the area. While most part of the region falls under the reserved forest category, the remaining areas are governed by the municipal councils and corporations.

“Sustaining the biodiversity of the area is not possible without the cooperation of tourists, who by and large lack civic sense,” some forest officials pointed out.

Ecology under threat

Plastic covers, bottles and foils are a common site in Palampur, Bir Billing, Jwalamukhi, Kangra, Baijnath, McLeodganj and Dharamsala.