Himachal Pradesh government has started a mass campaign for a week in the state with a view to make the State free from plastic.

In the campaign 'Polythene Hatao Paryavaran Bachao Abhiyan', whose beginning was marked by the Chief Minister, Mr. Prem Kumar Dhumal, around 15 quintal of the plastic waste was collected in the timeframe of few hours.

The collected polythene garbage was loaded in the truck and was flagged off by the Chief Minister to be used in the construction of the poly-green road. This experiment has already registered success in some parts of Himachal Pradesh.

The State government has already put a ban on the polythene bags, a move which was easily accepted by most of the traders as they started using jute and cotton bags. But in the some parts of the state including Solan and Baddi, some traders have attacked the government officials while protesting against the ban.

While appealing to the people to not to throw the polythene bags in open but to collect them at one place, Mr. Dhumal said, "We have launched community-led programmes and 400 sites identified for dumping of muck and other solid waste properly. The government will launch a polythene collection campaign to collect dried plastic.

Moreover a state level Governing Council has been set up to take care of the activities related to environment protection.