Nayagarh: The Nayagarh forest division has formulated a novel method to tackle plastic menace in the district as it decided to grow saplings in bamboo containers instead of polythene packets, a report said Wednesday.
The state government has banned use of plastic and polythene materials from Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, as these are not biodegradable and pollute the environment. Several awareness programmes are being undertaken for the purpose but still then plastic and polythene materials are in daily use as people find them convenient.
The move by the forest division has drawn wide appreciation from various quarters. This was stated here by divisional forest officer (DFO) Dhanraj HD here Wednesday. The move will keep the environment clean and do away with polythene materials which were earlier used in growing saplings.
The Nayagarh forest division as part of its efforts has launched the initiative to keep the environment clean by using cylindrical shaped bamboo containers for growing saplings and planting them during Vano Mahotsav and plantation drives in the district.
The project has been launched on an experimental basis at the Central Nursery (sapling production centre) at Muktapur under Nayagarh block.
Various plant saplings produced in this nursery will be grown in these bamboo containers. The nurseries will have to spend Rs 8-9 in making bamboo containers while they were earlier spending Rs 2-3 towards a polythene packet.
The containers are being prepared by cutting the nodes of large bamboo poles into equal size. Later, soil will be filled into these containers and seeds will be sown inside to grow various saplings. The project will be implemented all over the district if it becomes successful in Muktapur, sources added.
Moreover, the district administration has declared the upcoming Zilla Mahotsav as plastic-free for which it has been decided to welcome the guests with bouquets stored in bamboo containers.
Sources said over eight lakh saplings are produced from one mega nursery and six central nurseries in the district. These nurseries use polythene packets to grow saplings. The saplings grown in these polythene packets are later sold to intended buyers or distributed during plantation drives. Various types of plants like mango, jackfruit, amla, jamun, neem, gulmohar, teak, pongame oil tree (karanja) and sal are produced in these nurseries.
