Top Panel





Home :: News :: 15122012
Voluntary plastic clean-up drive in Sunderbans

 
TIMES OF INDIA
By Subhro Niyogi, TNN | Dec 14, 2012, 02.53 PM IST

KOLKATA: A grassroots-level NGO in the Sunderbans joined hands with the state forest department and police to start a volunteer-based clean-up drive to rid the archipelago of plastic and thermocol waste. Past attempts to tackle the problem through awareness campaigns and fines have failed to yield results.

"Over the years, various methods have been tried out to stop tourists from bringing plastic and littering them in the Sunderbans. But they have proved ineffective due to the nature of tourism that is popular in the mangrove delta. Most of them are picnickers out to have fun with no concern for jungle or environment. Hence, trying to educate them is useless. Since it is the people of Sunderbans living off its resources who suffer, we have decided to form teams of volunteers to clean up the mess periodically," said Bali Nature Club founder secretary and principal field officer of Wildlife Protection Society of India Anil Mistry.

Of the 1.5 lakh visitors that Sunderbans draws annually, nearly 80% are the picnicking lot. Usually, groups of 30-40 people board a launch and head into the jungle. They have a hearty meal, play loud music and dance. Thermocol plates and glasses and polybags are discarded into the river. Even when boat operators collect the waste, they don't have the sense to dump it away from the shore. As a result, all the waste is washed back into the river during high tide.

"We've tried speaking to the tourists and imposing hefty fines on boats that litter. But monitoring is very difficult as there are too many entry and exit points. Hence, when Mistry came up with the proposal of getting volunteers to clean up the riverbanks once a fortnight, we embraced it," said Sunderban Tiger Reserve field director Subrat Mukherjee said. Sonakhali, Gathkhali, Pakhiralay, Jharkhali, Kaikhali, Kalitola and Dhamakhali are all used by tourists to access the Sunderbans.

On Monday, two dozen students participated in the clean-up drive from Gathkhali along the banks of Durgaduani, Gumbi and Bidya rivers, covering a 10-km stretch. "There were thousands of plastic bottles, snack packets, carry bags and liquor bottles littered in the mangrove trees along the shore line. It was tough work but I felt a sense of contributing to the preservation of the environment," said class XI student Ekadashi Mondal, one of the participants in the clean-up exercise. After collecting the waste, it was segregated into recyclable and non-recyclable material. The latter was then burnt in an incinerator.

more info



 

 

  Untitled Document
 Search:







TIGER NEWS



Elite appetite turns Bangladesh from source to consumer of tiger parts, 9th Jan., 2024


Photos of tiger, gaur set new national and world records: Sikkim forest and environment department, 4th Jan., 2024


Previous



WILDLIFE NEWS


India has 718 snow leopards; most of them live in unprotected areas: Centre, 30th Jan., 2024

After 40 years, Centre revises rules on wildlife trade, 20th Jan., 2024

Previous


PROJECTS


Tiger Poaching & Illegal Wildlife Trade Investigations




TIGER MORTALITY

TIGER DEATHS IN 2024
 Mortality                     40
 Poaching &             
 Seizures                        8
___________________
       Total                       48



TIGER DEATHS IN 2023
 Mortality                 149
 Poaching &               56
 Seizures                   
___________________
       Total                   205


TIGER POACHING 1994-2023


LEOPARD MORTALITY

LEOPARD DEATHS IN 2024
 Mortality                121
 Poaching &              38
 Seizures             
___________________
       Total                  159


LEOPARD DEATHS IN 2023
 Mortality                 410
 Poaching &             155
 Seizures             
___________________
       Total                   565
     

LEOPARD POACHING 1994-2023



TIGER RESERVES
Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve Map 

Bandhavgarh



Jobs

Assitant Accountant


 
Untitled Document
  About us | ProjectsNewsThe TigerDonations | How To Help Links| Publications | Crime MapsFAQsContact Us

Wildlife Protection Society of India. All material is protected by law.