Free cloth bag scheme launched in Nilgiris

COIMBATORE: Forest Minister K Ramachandran launched distribution of free cloth bags under Meendum Manjappai scheme, for a total of 99,000 houses across the Nilgiris district, during a function held at the tribal cultural centre in Udhagamandalam on Saturday.

The officials of Tamil Nadu pollution control board (TNPCB) started distributing these bags from Saturday, with the help of Nilgiris district administration through local bodies, as the scheme is aimed to convert the Nilgiris into a plastic free district.

Ramachandran said, “To take CM’s Meendum Manjappai scheme to next level, district administration and PCB officials have decided to distribute the bags, as part of former CM M Karunanidhi’s 99th birthday, to avoid people from using plastic bags.”Ramachandran directed the officials to create more awareness about the scheme and sought cooperation from the Nilgiris residents to make the district plastic free.

The minister also said that a team consisting of all the departments have been conducting frequent checks and seizing plastics goods and imposing fines against the violators, since its ban from January 1, 2019.
The function was held in the presence of differently-abled persons welfare department secretary R Anandakumar, who is also the monitoring officer for the Nilgiris, and Collector SP Amrith.