Aiming to make the popular tourist destinations Digha and Shankarpur plastic-free, the Digha Shankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) is planning to ban the usage of plastic in and around the coastal towns, a senior official said.
In Digha and Shankarpur, plastic is posing a problem as all the drains and water outlets are getting choked leading to waterlogging during high tide or when natural calamity like cyclones hit the area, the official of the Digha Shankarpur Development Authority said.
Digha is a seaside resort town in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district. Located around 190 km from Kolkata it is at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. Digha beach also serves as a popular location for shooting movies
"Plastic waste has choked Digha and Shankarpur areas. You will feel it during the monsoon season. We have recently found that dumping of plastics into the drains have choked them. The most affected is the sea. You will see plastics floating in the sea. During high tide you will find plastic materials being swept ashore," he told PTI on Thursday.
Shankarpur beach village is located 14km from Digha. It is a regular fishing harbour.
The DSDA is planning to issue instructions to all business enterprises, shops, hotels, restaurants, shopkeepers in fish and vegetable markets to start using paper bags or eco-friendly sal leaves instead of plastic bags, he said.
"We will soon issue guidelines for this purpose. Once it is sanctioned the final guideline will be sent to people engaged in business here.
"We are planning to impose a ban on the usage of plastic to reduce plastic pollution. We are trying to raise the awareness level among the people of this area," he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been urging people to curb plastic pollution by adopting "constructive steps".
The state government has taken an initiative to reduce the use of plastic.
Talking to PTI, DSDA chairman and Kanthi Lok Sabha MP Sishir Adhikary said, "Plastic is harming our environment and it has reached such a point that its usage should be stopped without any delay. We have already taken several steps to beautify Digha and Shankarpur areas as well as Tajpur, Mandarmani and other beach destinations here.
"And as a part of it, we are planning to make it plastic-free. Not only sea beaches, we are also planning to make the entire district plastic pollution-free. Once we are able to stop plastic-usage, the pollution due to this dangerous material will be somehow be arrested."
Local traders and hotel owners also welcomed the idea of plastic ban.
Mohammed Afridi of National Cashew Centre in Old Digha market said they have already started using cotton bags for customers.
Samrat Bandyopadhyay, associate manager of a three- star accommodation in Old Digha said, "We have already stopped using plastic-made materials in our area. We have also put up notices in every room of our hotel to raise the awareness- level of the boarders."
The DSDA official said, the challenge was to stop hawkers on the beaches from using plastic bags.
"They use plastic bags. We have been trying to convince them to stop using plastic bags by raising their awareness on plastic pollution," he said.
Shopkeepers selling products made of seashells, like Monju Mondal, Sarvesh Maity, Dhananjay Mohapatra said that customers prefer plastic bags rather than taking goods wrapped in paper.
"People prefer plastic bags to paper wrappers. So, we use them. We are poor people and cannot afford to lose our customers," Suman Mishra said.
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