As tourist vehicles in Sikkim mandated to carry garbage bags so should be environmental awareness

While small, when repeated, such acts help in building habits. They inculcate a sense of responsibility towards the environment which can then be translated to other spheres of activity as well

With time Sikkim has become a popular tourist spot. (Image credit: Mayur Kakade/Moment/Getty Images.)

New Delhi: According to an official order by the Himalayan state’s Tourism and Civil Aviation Department, all tourist vehicles entering Sikkim will have to carry large garbage bags. The move is aimed at promoting community involvement in achieving environmental sustainability goals. 

The task of informing travellers about carrying these bags for waste disposal has been assigned to tour operators, travel agencies and cab drivers. 

The order also says that random checks on tourist vehicles will be assigned to ensure compliance, with penalties for violations to also be put in place.

Sikkim is a popular tourist place with many destinations like Dzongri and Goecha La offering spectacular alpine forest views. Khangchendzonga National Park, Tsomgo Lake, Yumthang Valley are some other popular tourist attractions in the state. 

The move by the Sikkim government should be welcome and also act as a sign for others to follow. Awareness drives in India are not uncommon and seeing the state of environmental degradation today, the time is ripe that streamlined and sustained campaigns are geared towards making common citizens aware of the need for protecting our environment.

Much needed and welcome

Be it Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic polio vaccination awareness campaigns in India or the globally successful ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that saw celebrities raise awareness and funds for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), it has been proven time and again that awareness campaigns work.

While something as simple as tourists carrying garbage bags in their vehicles when they travel to an environment that is naturally pristine might seem counterintuitive to some, for large sections of people in India, it sadly is not so.

While we have taken some commendable strides in our group behaviours in this country, there are still many aspects where much is left wanting. Environmental awareness, which is extremely pivotal today, sadly remains seated at a perennial backseat.

Taking this into consideration, this step by the Sikkim government should be welcome. While small, when repeated, such acts help in building habits. They inculcate a sense of responsibility towards the environment which can then be translated to other spheres of activity as well.

India is a large and diverse country, in terms of education and habit as well. It has a long legacy of colonisation and it has taken time for a large part of its population to reach the levels of advanced education that many today possess. Some still lack this or are in the initial steps of gaining worldly awareness. It thus should be of no shame when such steps are initiated in the country.

To learn is to grow and there should be no shame in this. This is especially true when it comes to protecting our natural environment. This is something that has always been entrenched in the cultural ethos of our country. It is only recently when people have moved to urban centres that they have been divorced from nature.

The directive is for such people only. It is them, who go as reckless tourists to places like Sikkim, that need to be reminded of our connection with the natural environment and the current imperative to protect it. 

Aiming further, this directive by the Sikkim government should also act as a catalyst for more such, if only small, but important environmental awareness campaigns to be brought out across the country. The fight to protect the environment will only be won if all the sections of society play their part in it. To make this a reality, they first need to understand the gravity of the problem and actualise this learned awareness by taking practical steps. It is never too late to start and all should take a cue from the Sikkim government’s directive.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone. The opinions and facts in this article do not represent the stand of News9.)

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