BALIJAN, May 19: Hundreds of villagers participated in an awareness programme themed ‘Plastic free Himalaya’, organized here in Papum Pare district on Saturday by the Northeast regional centre of the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development.
Activities like cleanliness and plantation drives, distribution of saplings, and installation of low-cost bamboo dustbins were conducted as part of the programme.
Scientist MS Lodhi spoke about the impact of plastic on different ecosystems and on the health of various components of the ecosystem, including human beings, while scientist Dr KS Kanwal informed that plastic takes about 500-1000 years to decompose and leaves a long trail of footprints for the future generations to deal with. He advised the people to opt for cloth bags instead of plastic ones.
