In a bid to control pollution in Sankhu’s Shalinadi, a campaign has been launched to limit the excessive use of polythene bags during the month-long Swasthani festival, which begun on Saturday.
Under the campaign, a joint initiative of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), the Nepal Scouts, Force Nepal and other stakeholders, environment-friendly bags will be distributed to devotees who throng the river during the festival. Nearly two million devotees visit Sankhu every year to mark the festival that occurs during the Nepali months of Magh and Falgun.
“We aim to distribute at least 250,000 environment-friendly bags this year,” said Pradip Khatiwada, chairman of Force Nepal. “We will also be taking back polythene bags from the devotees.” According to Khatiwada, around 70,000 environment-friendly bags were distributed to devotees last year as well.
Ganapati Lal Shrestha, coordinator of the campaign, said stakeholders, including the KMC and the Nepal Scouts, are supporting the campaign by providing volunteers, logistics and medical care. Volunteers from various schools and colleges will also be mobilised during the month-long campaign. The Ministry of Environment and the Nepal Tourism Board are supporting the campaign.
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