Madhya Pradesh girl spearheads drive against polythene bags

Gwalior, Apr 6 (ANI): A girl in Madhya Pradesh is spearheading an awareness drive to discourage use of polythene bags by distributing cloth and jute bags to the people.

What started as a small effort on part of Kamakshi, a resident of Gwalior, has now evolved into a large-scale movement.

She has been spearheading the drive against polythene bags since 2004 and has motivated around 10,000 people from different states to join her in this endeavour.

"I've collected more than 5,500 carry bags, which include polythene, jute and cloth bags. I've motivated around 10, 000 people in various states, including Maharashtra, MP, UP and Tamil Nadu towards joining me in this campaign," said Kamakshi.

Apart from asking people not to use polythene bags, Kamakshi also collects different carry bags and has amassed around 5,500 bags so far.

She has been educating people about the hazards of polythene bags since her student days and is hopeful of taking her campaign throughout the country. Her family, friends, neighbours, relatives and even her neighbourhood vendors have all become a part of Kamakshi's campaign.

"She has made us aware about the hazards of polythene bags and has asked us to abstain from using these bags," said Manoj Kushwaha, a vegetable vendor.

India banned the use of polythene bags in 2008 across various cities and since then has been propagating the use of paper and jute bags.

According to environmentalists, discarded bags, which pile up on roadside and unused land, spread disease and hurt animals. By Ashok Pal (ANI)