WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY: Awareness functions, cleanliness drives held across Kashmir

MASROOR AHMAD

GULMARG: To raise awareness about environment and ecology among the masses, various functions were held across Kashmir on the ‘World Environment Day’.
Every year, this day is observed as the day dedicated to educate about environment, plant trees and clean surroundings.
First held in 1974, it has been a platform for raising awareness on environmental issue such as human over population, wildlife crime, global warming, marine pollution, and sustainable consumption.
World Environment Day is a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. Each year, the programme provides a theme and forum for different non-governmental organisations. This year’s theme is, ‘Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience’.
In a significant initiative to preserve the natural beauty and cleanliness of world famous destination Gulmarg, a mega cleanliness drive was conducted on Wednesday at the scenic locations of Gulmarg, organised by Department of Forest in collaboration with Gulmarg Development Authority. The drive commenced with significant participation from both organizations and school students, ponywalas , tourist guides, security forces and police personnel. The Forest Department urged people and tourist to co-operate in efforts to make Gulmarg the World-famous Ski and Gandola destination plastic and polythene free. He said the government has already banned the polythene in Gulmarg, as it is a place of natural beauty so people should follow guidelines.
Officials of the Gulmarg Development Authority appealed to parents and teachers to educate their children and students to try to make these destinations plastic and polythene free whenever they visit a tourist spot.” We are welcoming every visitor but there should be proper guidelines for school children on how to cooperate with authorities,” he said.
While the world is facing global warming and other environmental challenges, Kashmir is also facing severe heat conditions and many glaciers are nearing extinction, so keeping this situation in mind we need to be more careful about the environment, he added. GDA officials asserted that with the collaboration of Forest Department the initiative focused on ensuring a green, clean and plastic-polythene-free Gulmarg. They emphasized the GDA’s commitment to such cleanliness drives, affirming that these efforts will be sustained for the continuous upkeep of Gulmarg. Tourists and locals alike expressed their gratitude for the efforts of the Forest Department. Many highlighted the importance of maintaining cleanliness in these pristine environments and commended the authorities for their proactive measures.
This initiative reflects the ongoing dedication of GDA and Forest Department to promote sustainable tourism in the region, ensuring that Gulmarg remains a beautiful and welcoming destination for all tourists.
“We should take all measures where we can restore the ecosystem so that we have a healthy society and healthy nation.”
The officials in their message appealed to the people to maintain a healthy and eco-friendly environment and instructed all the officials that they should take measures to ensure a healthy environment all around.