Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir (ATOAK) today came down heavily on the government for lifting the ban on use and manufacture of polythene of above 50 micron in Jammu & Kashmir, saying the step would deprive Kashmir of its edge in adventure tourism.
The association in a statement today said that Jammu and Kashmir being a mountainous state is “extremely fragile and environmentally very sensitive; we can’t afford further degradation of our ecology and environment as much damage has already been done to it by fiddling with our nature and natural resources.”
President ATOAK Rauf Tramboo while discussing the matter with ATOAK members, said: “In the present times people world over are concerned over the environmental problems. They give priority to safeguard the environment by all means. But what our government is doing is that it is lifting the blanket ban on polythene will could prove disastrous from the environment point of view.”
“The use of polythene chocks our drains, waterways, canals. We have already seen the destruction it has caused to our waterbodies and agricultural land.
“In the mountains our trekking routes and camp sites are littered with polythene and other plastic packaged items and in the absence of proper monitoring and no ban on polythene we fear more and more polythene will be used and seen around.
“We are already fighting against all odds for making cleaner the Baba Amarnath trekking trails and camp sites which are getting tons of polythene waste during annual Yatra to the cave.
“With the lifting of this ban, we the adventure tour operators in Kashmir fear the adventure tourists who visit Kashmir to look for cleaner areas, may go to other mountain states which would result in huge economic losses to us,” the association said.
“We the members at ATOAK urge the government to kindly withdraw its decision of lifting blanket ban on polythene so that we can save our environment and tourism for all times to come.”
