Though Government has put a blanket ban on use of polythenes at tourist places in Jammu & Kashmir but lack of garbage disposal mechanism and quiescent approach of the civic authorities has virtually changed most of the Kashmir’s famed tourist places into garbage dumps. Announcing a blanket ban on single use plastics was good enough to satisfy the environmental concerns of the people in Kashmir valley but bigger challenge is the implementation of the ban for the satisfaction of both the environmentalists and as well as general public in Jammu & Kashmir. People at the helm of affairs in tourism department may or may not believe it but the fact remains that even the famed tourist destinations of Kashmir will cease the distinction of being world class tourist destinations if the stinky polythene dumps are not immediately removed and waste disposal management systems are not made functional at all the tourist places across Kashmir. Unfortunately presently no data is available on plastic waste generated at tourist places in both Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division and tourism development authorities of all the tourist destination could have generated such a data in a short span of time. Though awareness about the use of single use plastics at tourist places is an unavoidable compulsion keeping in view the fact that tourists themselves use polythenes and throw it then and there at the centre of roads and in the gardens and parks at tourist places but unfortunately the tourism department does not aware even local populations not to talk of tourists about single use plastics at tourist places. So the immediate priorities for the tourism department could be general awareness about the single use plastics at tourist places and immediate implementation of waste disposal management practices and processes at all tourist places not only in Kashmir but also in Jammu division.
Administrative wisdom demands that tourist places lacking the facility of waste disposal management system are identified for the purposes of implementation of the latest facilities of waste disposal management processes and simultaneously awareness campaigns are also lauched against single use plastics are launched at all the tourist destinations across Kashmir.
The tourism development authorities of the concerned tourist destinations can even outsource the waste disposal management system and regulate their working from time to time for the purposes of making tourist places models of cleanliness in Jammu & Kashmir. For strict enforcement of the already imposed ban on single use plastic it would be far better for the tourism development authorities of all the tourist destinations to establish check posts at all entry points to disallow single use plastic at all tourist destinations across Kashmir. Administrative wisdom demands that tourist places lacking the facility of waste disposal management system are identified for the purposes of implementation of the latest facilities of waste disposal management processes and simultaneously awareness campaigns are also lauched against single use plastics are launched at all the tourist destinations across Kashmir.
