KMC to organise rally in city as part of afforestation campaign
Kolkata: As a part its afforestation campaign, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will organise a rally from its headquarter on S N Banerjee road to College Street on June 7, to spread awareness among the people to protect the environment.
The programme has been scheduled keeping in the mind the World Environment Day, which actually falls on June 5. Mayor Firhad Hakim will take part in the event. The KMC officials will sow saplings at Chaplin Square situated near the KMC headquarter.
Apart from the KMC officials, students from various schools in the city will also participate in the rally. After sowing the saplings, the rally would start from in front of the civic body's office and end at College Street. Saplings would also be planted in the College Street area.
During the rally, the KMC officials will try to reach out to the people and urge them not to use plastic bags below 15 micron. The civic body has already carried out a number of drives to make people aware against the use of polythene bags, which are causing environmental hazards.
KMC authorities have already decided to impose fines on those who will be found flouting norms regarding the use of plastic bags. Various shop owners in the city have been instructed not to use plastic bags beyond 15 micron.
However, the civic body's efforts have so far failed to bring a desired result as many were found to have been flouting the guidelines.
During a recent review meeting, the drainage department officials at KMC found that plastic bag waste is clogging the sewerage lines along the length and breadth of the city. As a result of this, the accumulated water is not properly discharged during the rainy season. Combating the situation has always been a concern for KMC officials.
In a recent meeting, the KMC officials have decided to deal with the situation strongly to check the recurrence of such incidents. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Kolkata had earlier given its ruling, spelling out certain restrictions in this regard. KMC has decided to impose a fine of Rs 50-500 on those who use the banned plastics and Rs 5,000-50,000 for those who burn plastics.
