The initiative taken by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in collaboration with Coke India Limited to create awareness and educate the hotel industry about the need to conserve water turned out to be a wasteful exercise as only a handful of hoteliers attended the event.

Kuldeep Chauhan
Residents in this temple town have demanded that the government should expedite the Rs 130-crore dam project downstream near the town to restore its ecology destroyed allegedly by the Beas Satluj Link (BSL) project, commissioned by the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) in 1970s.

The best option is, of course, recycling in an environmentally sound manner. But it is also a fact that most civic bodies fail to collect and dispose waste. Instead of implementing techno logical innovations States such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal other than Delhi have banned the use of plastic bags.

Rakesh Lohumi
The hype created by the government over the proposed ban on polythene bags and other plastic wares notwithstanding, the environemtntally-sensitive hill state has a dismal track record in solid-waste management.

The violation of ban on the use of polythene carry bags and plastic items having one-time use being imposed from August 15 will attract penalty ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 25,000, depending on the quantity of prohibited material recovered.

Even though the estimated population of the snow leopard in Himachal is barely 15, encouraged by spotting of the animal by locals as well as wildlife staff in Spiti the government has sent a Rs 1.50 crore action plan to the Centre for protecting the highly endangered animal.

The Sierra Club, the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organisation in the US, has awarded the

Mumbai-based ship manufacturing and repairing company ABG Shipyard Limited has bagged three out of the last five remaining hydroelectric projects in the state for which bids were invited last year.

After the initial success, the Western Tragopan breeding programme has failed to bring about the desired results as merely two out of 55 eggs have hatched, forcing wildlife authorities to seek the help of UK-based World Pheasants Association to evaluate factors which could have affected successful breeding.

Resentment prevailed among polythene bag manufacturers and sellers against the state government for its decision to impose blanket ban on the use of polythene and disposable plastic crockery in the state from August 15. They demanded that the government should save 2.5 lakh people of the state depending on the trade from starvation.