[anand.shankar]

Excellent move, Central Govt should implement this country wide. There are very few instances where bottles water becomes a absolute necessity. In most cases its just laziness and convenience.. convenience at the cost of nature, and more so in out case visual pollution as well. I can remember not long ago travel meant carrying water along from home in reusable Milton's and refiling them as we go, even though packaged water was easily available. Now we've become too cool for all that I guess. Same is the case with shopping bags, never set out of the house without those big shopping bags, until early 2000s when literally everything became plastic. Everyone wanted quick and disposable stuff, it was the fad I guess back then. Some of it could be because of poor short sighted thinking by Govt or Social groups. I recall some NGO people barging into our primary school classes and promoting Plastic pencils instead of wooden ones to save trees, we even got some free, 6-7 years old us felt like we were saving the world.... in retrospect that was so dumb.

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Nilgiris Dt in Tamilnadu has been doing such things from the early 2000s. From a few years ago even packaged drinking water bottles are not available. Your vehicle is inspected as you enter the district for single use plastics as well. Munnar part of Idukki Dt in Kerala as well had such measures, not sure if they still do but Nilgiris they sure do.

Statewide measures like banning plastic drinking water bottles is a bit extreme, wonder what is the alternative.

Nilgiris is doing good, i guess the DCs are motivated as well to keep the places clean from what I heard from Ooty residents.

But Idukki is soon becoming the garbage king here.. went to many places Ramakkalmedu, Paranthanpara, etc plastics and garbage strewn everywhere, disgusting. No garbage bins or anything, rain and some mild flooding is the only hope I guess. This is in contrast to the other places in the state which are usually much much cleaner.

[Learner]

In my humble opinion that is good decision. This should be implemented nationwide. Only then companies will go for eco friendly alternatives.
During our visit to Kasol, Himachal Pradesh I saw many travellers keeping their garbage with them and disposing off it at the proper place. However some shopkeepers were throwing their entire bags of garbage in the river. So it's not only tourists that litter.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Learner

So it's not only tourists that litter.

Very true. Littering is a universal phenomenon in our country. I've seen plastic bottles flung out out of BMWs, seen IT company employees refuse to walk 20 meters to put their trash in a dustbin, been stuck in a tourist area during a covid lockdown and participated in a local cleanup drive for a beach, only to see the same stretch strewn with trash a couple of weeks later. Since tourists weren't being allowed in to the state, who could be trashing it now?! Yet the newspapers of the state always blame the "outsiders"! I've also seen bikes with local registrations stop and just fling plastic packets into streams and rivers. Guides in Himalayan mountains admonish tourists to "respect our holy mountain" and then sit in groups drinking and spitting on the same mountain! And certainly tourists trash places a lot too.

The only solution is either very strict enforcement and spot fines, or stop the sale of plastic at the source. You cannot draw up regulations making assumptions based on a particular demographic. Tourists/outsiders/locals/educated/poor/rich.

[Annibaddh]

Originally Posted by am1m

Very true. Littering is a universal phenomenon in our country.

You cannot draw up regulations making assumptions based on a particular demographic. Tourists/outsiders/locals/educated/poor/rich.

That is indeed so true. I’ve seen trails in the Himalayas littered with broken beer bottles and Chakhna. But have known the tourists / trekkers largely avoid doing this. Have personally fought with locals littering rivers in Maharashtra and faced the ‘outsider’ jibe. Littering starts with discipline and that our country rarely had :/