TURA, June 19 � Visitors to Balpakram National Park (BNP), one of the main tourist destinations in Meghalaya, are taking back memories of the visit but leaving behind garbage including alcohol bottles, fast food packets, cigarette packets, juice bottles, etc., in the park.
A cleaning drive organised by various organisations and clubs recently found such garbage strewn all over the park.
The clubs of Baghmara � Dipogre Socio-Cultural Youth Club, A�sim Chiring Youth Socio Sports and Cultural Club, Wagesik Youth Club along with the Garo Students Union, Southern Zone organised the event in partnership with the BNP authority to ensure a clean environment for the tourists who visit the place and also for the animals residing there.
An enthusiastic group of more than 80 people undertook the trip and collected more than 15 bags of debris which had been left behind by visitors to the park.
The collected garbage was handed over to the Forest Range Officer for disposal. The group started the work in the morning and continued till 5 pm. They braved rains, which came throughout the day as the Rain Gods tested the volunteers.
Thengrak M Sangma, one of the chief organisers of the drive said, �The BNP is one of the chief attractions of the State of Meghalaya. Many a time, it has been seen that people come here not only to enjoy the beauty of the place, but to consume alcohol as well. These people have been dirtying the place with wastes they leave behind�.
He added, �We have been trying to educate them of what they need to do so that they do not spoil the beauty of the place by throwing litter all around. We want to ensure a Balpakram clear of wastes and thus we decided to carry out the cleaning drive.
The In-charge of BNP, G Marak was very enthusiastic about the drive and even walked the 12 km distance with the party to encourage them.
He later gave away a prize of Rs 1,000 to the group that collected the most amount of garbage. Marak said, �We are very happy with drives like these as it keeps the park clean as well as attract tourists. We hope such drives prove helpful for the future of BNP�.
