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Gunny bag loads of polythene, waste materials collected in clean-up campaign

by Florence Wickramage

Thirty gunny-bag loads of polythene and other waste materials have been collected by volunteers who took part in a Sri-Pada clean up campaign recently.

An on-going Anti-polythene Campaign and the clean-up drive during the current Sri Pada pilgrim season is spearheaded by Upper Watershed Management Project led by Director D.P.Munaweera. Members of the Buddhist Brotherhood Society of Alawwa participated in the shramadana campaign.

The solid waste was collected on either side of the pathway to the Summit along the Hatton-Nallathanniya route which had been heavily littered by pilgrims, from the mountain slopes, the Uda Maluwa and the base of the Summit. A major part of the garbage collected included empty polythene bags, plastic bottles, biscuit and lunch-wrappers.

To collect solid waste during the ascent to the summit, these young men took along with them empty fertiliser bags which once filled were put into gunny bags.

Garbage collected during this clean-up drive exceeded 700 kilograms. A large amount of empty polythene bags which had blocked water springs and streamlets were cleaned by the volunteers with difficulty.

The Peak wilderness is rich in bio-diversity. Environmentalists fear that two endemic bird species found in the Peak Wilderness area, i.e. the Yellow-eared Bulbul and the Black-bird have become threatened due to the birds picking up remnant food particles thrown-away by pilgrims.

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