Srinagar:
When one thinks Kashmir, one can never imagine polythene scattered across the Dal Lake!
It's a menace, that the Kashmir government has now decided to fight with carry bags made of bio-plastic, an eco-friendly material, that come October all shops in the state will be ordered to use. instead of polythene.
''We have meat and chicken bags where wet commodities are being purchased. And mostly this is being done in polythene. Second thing would be that we will be focusing on the consumer plastic bags. Wherever polythene is being used, we will go there,'' said Dr G N Qasba, MD, Agro-Industries.
The state used 3,000 kilograms of polythene bags every day till July when the government completely banned its use.
Even then at least 20 per cent users still flout the rules. With the introduction of bio-plastic bags which costs the same as polythene bags, the state hopes to weed plastic out completely.
"I believe it is a landmark MoU for the state. I believe it is something we should celebrate,'' said Omar Abdullah, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister.
It will be the first unit of its kind in the country that will manufacture bio-plastic. This will help in saving the fragile environment of Kashmir.
In the name of a boat ride in the Dal, one wouldn't then be wading through a lake of plastic.