Plastic-free Janamasthmi will be celebrated in land of lord Krishna

Take pledge to make Mathura plastic-free : Hema Malini

Mathura, August 15- In a first, Mathura will celebrate plastic-free Janamasthmi this year, the District Magistrate said.
“Devotees, shopkeepers and locals are urged not to use polythene bags and plastic ,” District Magistrate Chandra Prakash Singh said. They are made aware of alternatives to plastics and are encouraged to use them to reduce the plastic menace, He added.

“ We get highly encouraging results from a similar initiative, Plastic Free Mudhiya Puno, taken during the Mudhiya Puno fair in Goverdhan this July, ” the DM said.
The entire Sri Krishna Janamsthan area has been made free of encroachment, Chandra Prakash Singh said. Beautification work is done to provide a better experience to devotees coming from different parts of the globe, He added.
Different teams are deployed in the city to make people aware of the damage, plastic is doing to our environment, ADM Dr Amresh Kumar said.
Mathura MP Hema Malini said that we must ensure that it becomes a wonderful experience for people coming from across the globe to participate in the Sri Krishna Janmashtami celebrations.
Plastic is choking the city, and on the birthday of Lord Krishna, we must take a pledge to make our city plastic-free, she said.
Security has been beefed up in the city on the occasion of SriKrishna Janamasthmi, SSP Shlok KUMAR said. The entire area has been divided into sectors and zones, he added.
CCTV cameras and drones, along with 3000 Police, PAC and RAF personnel, are deployed to ensure the safety of the devotees, SSP said. A QR code-based parking system is established for the convenience of devotees, he added.
Police are also keeping an eye on social media platforms, Shlok Kumar said.
Baldeo MLA Puran Prakash appealed to people to support administrative efforts to celebrate plastic-free Sri Krishna janmashtami.
National president, Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal Ravikant Garg, advocated avoiding single-use plastic in the interest of the city and Mother Earth. “Traders always supported such government initiatives and will push the use of alternatives to plastic,” he added.
Ex-CLP leader Pradeep Mathur finds this a good initiative, but he is skeptical about the effectiveness of this program. “Most of these programs make headlines but fail to deliver, Mathur said.