The forest department has declared all the reserve forest areas in the district as plastic free zones from Tuesday onwards. The announcement has been made in connection with the World Environment Day.
The Kurumbapatti Zoological Park situated in the foothills of the Shervaroyan Hills and all the forest offices in the districts have also been declared as plastic free zones.
In a press release issued here on Tuesday, A. Periasamy, District Forest Officer, said that with the declaration of all the forest areas as plastic-free zones, the people visiting the same should not carry any plastic material with them.
He said that using plastic bags and other articles immensely harmed the surrounding environment. The plastic articles choked the drainages. The animals which consumed the plastic articles have lost their lives. The fields where plastic wastes are dumped have lost their fertility.
There is an urgent need for protecting the environment and the only way out is slapping a ban on plastic bags and other articles.
Mr. Periasamy said that the forest department in association with the district administration has already launched a campaign to create awareness among the common public on the harmful effects of plastic on the human beings, animals and the ecology.
Following the declaration of forest areas as plastic free zones, the department has slapped a ban on people carrying plastic water bottles and plastic bags while visiting the hill station of Yercaud and other forest areas.
Those who were found carrying plastic articles in the forest areas will be booked under the Forest Act, he said.
The Forest Department has already launched a campaign to create awareness in this regard among the common public. It has already displayed boards urging people to shun plastic articles at vantage points on Salem – Yercaud ghat road. The forest personnel distributed pamphlets explaining the harmful effects of using plastic articles to the road users at the forest check post.
The forest personnel have also been distributing pamphlets and creating awareness in this regard among the people residing in the villages abutting the reserve forests in the district.