Two tractor loads of plastic collected from Mahendragiri

Berhampur: Forest officials on Sunday collected two tractor loads of banned plastic from Mahendragiri hill near Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district, declared as the biodiversity heritage site by the state government. Around 200 people, including forest personnel, members of the vana suraksha samitis, panchayat representatives and college students participated in the drive to clean the hill area on the eve of World Environment Day on Monday.
Gajapati collector Lingaraj Panda inaugurated the drive in the presence of Gajapati SP Swathy S Kumar and divisional forest officer Paralakhemundi S Ananda. The divisional forest office, Paralakhemundi, organised “Our Mahendragiri Our pride” to save the mountain ecosystem from plastic pollution.
The drive continued for about five hours in a 1km radius of the area in the hill top, where the ancient temples are located, said the DFO. “We have also put on the sign boards to impose a fine of Rs 100 from the persons who discard the plastic bottles and polythene bags in the area,” said DFO.
At present, the members of the eco development committee (EDC) have been entrusted with the job of collecting the fine from offenders. “We will discuss with the district administration to strictly enforce the ban in the hill area and to ensure to make the biodiversity heritage site as free from plastic as possible,” he said.
The state government has announced an area of 4,250 hectares in Mahendragiri hill ecosystem comprising two reserve forests — Idongiri and Mahendra — as “biodiversity heritage site”.
The state biodiversity board has identified about 1,348 species of plants, including two of gymnosperms and 1,042 of angiosperms, 60 species of bryophytes, 53 of lichens and 72 of macro fungi.