Polythene ban in national monuments, tourist destinations from October 2

NEW DELHI: There will be a complete ban on use of polythene in all national monuments and tourist destinations from October 2.

In an initiative to carry forward the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the government chose the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to impose the ban.

"We thought that we should start cleanliness from our house first. So, the Tourism Ministry has decided to ban polythene in all the national monuments and tourist destinations from October 2," tourism minister Mahesh Sharma told PTI.


He said the trial phase of the initiative will be launched immediately and from October 2, it would be implemented in all the national monuments and tourist destinations.

Stating that the ministry would erect a board at the monuments or tourists place about this prohibition, he exuded confidence that it would be easier to implement this cleanliness initiative as the tourist destinations have security personnel who would check tourists at the entrance.

The minister, however, clarified that plastic bottles would not be banned but tourists would be asked to place them in the recycle container at the tourists destinations.

An official said the ban would be applicable to the protected zone or 100-m radius of the monuments.

In March, the Centre had also banned the manufacturing of plastic bags of below 50 microns as thinner bags are difficult to dispose leading to major threat to the environment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014.

The mission aims at elimination of open defecation, eradication of manual scavenging, modern and scientific municipal solid waste management, among others.