Socially-spirited volunteers on polythene-free mission

Dhenkanal: What the administration is yet to do despite declaration, here, socially-spirited volunteers have started a drive to make Kapilash a polythene-free zone in the last few days.

The administration and the Forest department had announced to ban the use of polythene in foothills of Kapilash and on its top but are yet to enforce it on a regular basis.

A socially-spirited forum known as 'Helping Hand', comprising youth volunteers, has been promoting awareness among pick-nickers and devotees not to use polythene in Kapilash. Not only they are promoting, but also regularly collect polythene from Kapilash premises and at foothills with full of sacks 5-10 quintals and sending them to the municipal garbage centre on their own. The volunteers are collecting about three-four quintals of polythene in one go.

Founder-member Stalin Mohanty said the group with 70 members [ both male and female] had started the awareness-cum-polythene collection one a month back in famous tourist Saptasajya. They now started the drive in Kapilash to promote awareness among tourists and devotees.

They are covering tourist places in the district to sensitise visitors about harmful impact of polythene on public health and environment. They are collecting, carrying and loading on tractors and dumping on the dumping ground, as suggested by the municipality and the administration. Seeing their work, the municipality is providing transport from the source to the garbage centre. Other rural youth have joined hands with the urban volunteers to take the mission forward, said social activist Manoj Kumar Patnaik.

"After the drive, visitors are minimising polythene use in Saptasajya. So, we went to other tourist place", another founder-member informed.

As many as 70 volunteers are engaged in the drive in the last two months. They are employed and also jobless; they set apart four hours a day. This is our mission to promote awareness and clean tourist places to encourage local youth for a better view of our tourist place, another member observed.

However, Debottar department officials admitted that the volunteers are doing noble work but declined to comment why it was not done earlier by the department.

Municipal Executive Officer Atanu Kumar Samant appreciated the volunteers' work. "Our works are within the municipality, but we extend transport carriers as self-motivated volunteers are doing the task unconditionally."