Green Tribunal’s suggestions for making Chamundi Hill plastic-free by Dasara

• Look for plastic carry bags and water bottles at entry points to Hill
• Initiate strict action against vendors and shop-keepers who use plastic bags and bottles
• Action plan to raise the compound wall to prevent indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste by tourists and devotees
• Installation of CCTV cameras to monitor culprits

Mysore/Mysuru: National Green Tribunal (NGT) State Committee Chairman Justice Subhash B. Adi has set a deadline for the District Administration to make Chamundi Hill completely free of plastic before the upcoming Dasara festival.

Justice Adi issued instructions to the authorities during a progress review meeting held at the Zilla Panchayat Hall in the city this morning.

During the meeting, Justice Adi referred to the examples of Varanasi’s River Ganga in Uttar Pradesh and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, which are prominent pilgrimage centres in the country where a strict ban on plastic has been effectively enforced.

He underlined the need for a similar ban on single-use plastic at Chamundi Hill, one of the prominent religious tourism destinations in Karnataka. This should involve the participation of the Gram Panchayat (GP) and the District Administration.

Rather than screening devotees for plastic carry bags at the top of the Hill, checks should be conducted at the main entrance at the base of the Hill. Additionally, all tourist spots in the district should be made plastic-free, he said.

Justice Adi also suggested that the Solid Waste Management Unit at the top of Chamundi Hill should be relocated to an area below the Hill.

Vendor licence atop Hill

In response to a query about the population on the Hill, the Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) of Chamundi Hill Gram Panchayat Roopesh stated that there are 3,045 residents and 465 houses, including the Thavarekatte area, within the GP limits. The Hill alone has a population of 2,405. However, no trade licences have been issued to any of the vendors.

Surprised by the PDO’s response, Justice Adi directed him to issue licences to the vendors so that appropriate action could be taken in case of any violations.

Justice Adi also called for the collection of e-waste through recognised renewable firms and the establishment of collection units in each of the two to three wards in the city. He further emphasised that permission to develop new residential layouts should only be granted after Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are built.

Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra informed Justice Adi about the action plan being drafted to construct tall compounds where plastic is easily disposed of by the devotees, along with the installation of CCTV cameras to monitor their activities.

Additionally, a team of five officers from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will be deployed to check for the use of plastic at various entry gates to the Hill.

Menace of single-use plastic

He pointed out the need to address some shortcomings, such as the lack of adequate drinking water facilities at the Hilltop, which forces devotees to carry water bottles. The DC also acknowledged that the use of single-use plastic increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Raids are being conducted and plastic carry bags are being seized from vendors, but stringent measures should be taken at the source level to stop the bulk production, transportation and stocking of plastic bags in large quantities, the DC noted.

Commissioner of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) G. Lakshmikantha Reddy mentioned that there is resistance to waste segregation in certain parts of the Narasimharaja Assembly Constituency before handing over the garbage to door-to-door garbage collectors. Efforts are being made to create awareness among the residents.

City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth, Superintendent of Police Seema Latkar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zilla Panchayat K.M. Gayathri and others were also present at the meeting.