Ministry brings change of climate at Marghzar Zoo

Visitors say conditions improving after ministry took over zoo’s management

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) taking up the gauntlet to improve Marghzar Zoo has declared it a plastic-free zone.

Zoo management has placed a ban on plastic bags and bottles while garbage bins have been placed inside the facility to prevent littering. It has deployed staff on entrance for collecting plastic items from visitors before their entry.

The management of zoo was recently handed over to ministry from Islamabad Municipal Corporation (IMC) by Islamabad High Court (IHC) after which its appearance is witnessing a remarkable change.

Islamabad’s dysfunctional zoo

In this regard, the Zoological Survey of Pakistan Director Altaf Hussain told The Express Tribune that as per court orders MoCC was managing the zoo till August 29. He said that they would submit a report in IHC on August 29 after which the court would decide about awarding authority of zoo management.

Hussain said that zoo was declared a plastic-free zone as the first step while health of animals had been a focus for them. All animals were being provided a balanced diet according to chart prepared by experts, he said.

The zoo in-charge said a medical board had been formed for treatment of the sick himalayan brown bear.

He added that special teams have been formed for maintaining cleanliness in zoo and they were performing their duties religiously.

Further, the visitors hailed cleanliness in zoo and said that declaring it plastic-free was a revolutionary decision.

They said they experienced a drastic change in zoo’s condition in a very short period.

The visitors said that people should co-operate with government and zoo administration to maintain its beauty.

Awareness campaign

MoCC has launched an awareness campaign in federal capital to sensitise people about hazards of polythene and benefits of biodegradable bags.

Volunteers from social welfare organisations , civil society, students from  universities including Fatima Women's University, Quaid-i-Azam University, FAST National University Islamabad, University of Engineering and Technology Taxila took part in the campaign.

The organisers including National Cleaner Production Centre Coordinator Irshad Ramey, MoCC representative Zaigham Abbas and MoCC Joint Secretary Hamid Hashmi distributed cotton bags amongst the participants and stressed upon them to spread awareness in their circles.

Marghzar Zoo official admits inability to care for animals

Toxic love affair

Pakistan's toxic love affair with plastic bag has to end, Federal Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said according to a statement issued on Tuesday.

After August 14 plastic bags will not be tolerated in the Islamabad Capital Territory, Aslam said in a meeting regarding banning polythene shopping bag (plastic bags) at MoCC in which senior officials from MoCC, Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) participated.

Aslam directed ICTA and EPA officials to chalk out a plan regarding distribution of alternative bags and dissemination of information regarding their availability.

Minister was briefed that out of all the plastic materials polythene had been targeted being non-recyclable and hazardous to the environmental. MoCC secretary told the minister that each importer or distributor of such plastic bags had been directed to devise a plant or unit for collection and recycling plastic bags.

Handling post-consumer stage would be producers’ responsibility. Only exceptions to plastic packing include industrial packaging, municipal waste, hospital waste and hazardous waste.

The statement said that exception criteria are very strict and based on the principle of product integrity and non-availability of alternative packaging material. Moreover, there is a system of labelling and record keeping in place in order to record importer or manufacture's identify and percentage of recycled content.

Media campaign would last until August 24 while 110,000 alternative material bags would be distributed in various ministries and at general public bazaars, the statement said.

It further said that ICTA and EPA would impose penalties. An SRO in this regards provides a penalty of Rs100,000 to Rs500,000 for manufacturer or whole sellers of single-use plastic bags, Rs10,000 to Rs50,000 for retailers selling plastic shoppers and Rs5,000 for other individuals found carrying plastic or polythene bags.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2019.