Mundgod: The Union Ministry of Forest and Environment has recently directed the Forest Department nurseries to stop using polythene bags and explore alternatives for planting saplings. The direction aims at making India a plastic-free country by the year 2022.

Instructions related to this have been sent to the chief conservator of forest and Forest & Wildlife Department of the State governments. Currently, saplings are raised in various-size plastic bags in nurseries coming under the State government. But from now onwards, the nurseries must be transformed into no-plastic zones. 

The deputy inspector general of forest department Rohit Tiwari said that the order 
must be implemented during the next sapling planting season.

“Making nurseries a plastic-free zone is a brilliant step towards making a plastic-free India. But alternatives must be soon explored. The government must consult the stakeholders and come up with bags made of alternative materials which can be used to raise the saplings. Sapling raising work has been initiated in most of the nurseries at present and so, the directions of not using polythene bags will be implemented in the coming season”, said Yellapur Sub-division DFO R G Bhat.