Udupi : Priyanka Mary Francis, Deputy Commissioner, flagged off a public awareness jatha against the use of plastic in front of the office of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) here on Thursday.

The jatha was organised by the Udupi CMC, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and Bharat Scouts and Guides.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Francis said that the objective of the district administration was to fully stop the use of plastic products and make Udupi a completely plastic-free district. All forms of plastic were banned in the State. This included plastic carrybags and even banners made from plastic. Hence, it was incumbent upon both traders and citizens to use bags made out of either paper or cloth for their daily use. The intention of the jatha was to make the citizens and traders aware of the negative aspects of the use of plastic items. “The cooperation of all citizens is needed to make the district plastic-free,” she said.

K. Raghavendra, CMC Environment Engineer, welcomed the gathering. Meenakshi Bannanje, president of CMC, Lakshmikanth, District Environment Officer, and others were present. Some bags made of cloth were also distributed to the people. Later, speaking to presspersons, Ms. Francis said that already the district administration had held a meeting of hotel owners, shop-keepers and traders to convince them against using plastic carry bags. All hotel owners, shop-keepers and traders had agreed not to use plastic carrybags. In fact, many said that they were not using plastic bags.