ERODE: In a joint drive conducted on Sunday, forest department officials, college students, and social activists collected 1,125 kg of plastic and 130 kg of liquor bottles from Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR).
C Sathish, founder of Tree People Charitable Trust, said, “The National Highway 948 between Coimbatore and Bengaluru passes through Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR). As Hasanur and Thalavadi on this stretch are tourist hot spots, a large number of vehicles use this road everyday. Besides, the number of goods vehicles is also high on this road, This in turn results in increase in plastic waste on both sides of the Dhimbam Ghat Road. Wild animals end up eating the snack wrappers that are thrown by passengers, and this can affect their lives. To prevent this, a cleanliness drive was conducted from Bannari check post up to Dhimbam Ghat road.”
Both sides of the road that stretches into the forest for about four kilometres were cleaned. A total of 1,125 kg of plastic waste and 130 kg of liquor bottles was collected and handed over to Sathyamangalam Municipality for safe disposal.
A senior official from STR forest department said, “We are constantly raising awareness to prevent plastic waste from being dumped on the roadside. We have placed awareness boards at vantage places. However, people continue to throw waste on the roadside.”