Proactive steps taken by the Forest Department have prevented visitors from possibly dumping more than two tonnes of single-use plastic materials in places falling under the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) and popular tourism destination Valparai in the past one year.
The main preventive measure taken by the Department is the installation of a plastic shredder at its checkpost at Aliyar on Pollachi – Valparai road, where single-use plastic materials are collected and crushed by the staff.
ATR authorities said 2,200 kg of plastic materials, which were collected and shredded, were handed over to the local body in a year.
Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forest, visited the facility at Aliyar checkpost on January 27 and instructed the staff to continue the collection of single-use plastic items from visitors, to avoid chances of them being dumped in tiger reserve areas, and Valparai.
Ms. Sahu, who was accompanied by ATR Field Director S. Ramasubramanian, directed the staff to strictly enforce the ban on single-use plastic items in tiger reserve areas.
“The staff check every vehicle before allowing into the tiger reserve area. The materials they collect are crushed and sent to the local body. The main aim is to prevent people from dumping these items in protected areas,” said Bhargava Teja, Deputy Director of Pollachi division of ATR.
The Pollachi – Valparai road passes through reserve forest areas of Pollachi and Valparai forest range of the ATR, which is home to Tamil Nadu’s State animal Nilgiri tahr and Lion-tailed macaque, both listed in the ‘endangered’ category in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Pollachi forest ranger V. Pugalendhi said the staff provided paper covers to visitors to transfer eatables, including snacks, if they were brought in plastic covers.
The Department also collected an entry fee of ₹50 for cars and ₹30 for two-wheelers, for which facilities to make cashless transactions were available. “The money collected goes to the ATR foundation and it is ultimately used for the development of the tiger reserve,” Mr. Teja added.
Tourists will not be allowed to travel to Valparai before 7 a.m. and after 6 p.m., an already existing restriction since the place is part of a tiger reserve.
