Tourists littering Kangra district: Forest dept

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, May 18

Despite a ban on the sale and use of plastic in the state, heaps of plastic garbage — covers, bottles, chips packets, and foils — are a common site in areas of Kangra district such as Palampur, Jwalamukhi, Kangra, Baijnath, McLeodganj and Dharamshala.

Government agencies responsible for managing the affairs have become a mute spectator. The forests on the Mubarkpur- Kangra, Pathankot- Mandi and Palampur Dharmshala highways have turned into dumping grounds.

Forest officials said sustaining the biodiversity of the area was impossible without the cooperation of the tourists, who generally lacked a civic sense and threw away the plastics items.

Environmentalists attribute the situation to the lethargic monitoring by the officials involved in the conservation of the area. While a great expanse of the region falls under the category of reserved forest, the remaining area is governed by the Municipal Councils and Corporations.