Ooty (Ootacamund) hill station which is situated in Tamil Nadu has taken a brilliant decision to ban the single-use plastic items and this is indeed awesome.
The Nilgiri District Administration which Ooty comes under has put a complete ban on items including water bottles, soft drinks and food items packed in plastic wrappers along the highways leading to the district’s major towns. The plastic ban will come into effect from August 15 onwards.
The Nilgiri District Administration had announced the ban in the aftermath of Madras High Court order last month which directed the Collector to prevent entry of all kinds of plastic packages into the district.
The court order came in a petition filed by Nilgiri resident who alleged that because of scores of tourists who visit Ooty regularly, the hill station is slowly turning into a garbage dump because of the plastic waste they leave behind without even caring about the environment.
After the court order, the district administration banned single-use plastic items beyond the entry points of the Nilgiris like Burliar, Kunjapanai, Kakkanallah, Nadugani, Thalur, Solladi, Pattavayal, Nambiar Kunnu, and Geddai. Tourists also will not be allowed to carry such banned items along with them.
They have been asked to use recyclable plastic containers to carry water. Also, RO water stations will be set up along the highways leading to Ooty and at major tourist spots.
Previously, this month, the Madras HC extended the ban on plastic to another tourist destination, Kodaikanal hill station in Dindigul district.