Green concern: Shimla kids take the lead

School students in the queen of hills would soon become the whistle blowers to check those who litter garbage on the historic Mall road and the Ridge road.
"The school students are being sensitised to become our Green Force to keep the Shimla environs clean," said deputy mayor, Shimla Municipal Corporation, Tekinder Singh Panwar.
"Once the kids start blowing whistles, it may check the violation by elders... The purpose is to check, spread awareness and punish those who don't mend their ways," he said while addressing teachers at a workshop under the Shimla Environment Education Programme (SEEP).
The education programme (SEEP) is a part of European Union project.

"The experts with the EU project and SMC have started visiting the schools for sensitisation on garbage management," he said.
He said all the schools would be consulted and 20 volunteers (students) drawn from different schools would be put on the job from 2 PM to 6 PM on everyday basis.

The Deputy Mayor said the 'Green Force' could become a regular feature of the Municipal Corporation.
SMC Health Officer Omesh Bharti gave a presentation on the door to door garbage management scheme being run under the aegis of SEHB (Shimla Environment Heritage Conservation Society) on the occasion.
He said the garbage being collected from households in Shimla had increased manifold after the SEHB Society came into being few years ago, and the money generated through the garbage collections has also increased with awareness.

He said the scheme had won awards at the national level.
"People are so aware now that they immediately call up if the garbage collector fails to turn up any morning," Bharti said.
The workshop, which had teachers as participants, also put their signatures, endorsing Green Force.