NGOs, volunteers clean up Shandur
After the polo festival at Shandur concluded, more than 3,300 kilograms of waste and garbage were collected and cleaned by non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers and local volunteers.
“The objective behind the cleanliness campaign was to create awareness among visitors concerning the effects of littering on the ecosystem,” said World Wide Fund (WWF) Gilgit Conservation officer Farasat Ali on Monday.
Ali said he led a team consisting of several NGOs, including Saving Wetlands, Sky High Programme, Pakistan Wetlands Programme, Northern Alpine Wetlands Complex and Snow Leopard Foundation Pakistan. The team cleaned up the ground, where more than 10,000 people attended the Shandur Polo Festival.
The NGO officials were joined by 80 volunteers from Shandur Local Support Organisation Teru, Shandur Area Development Organisation Luspur and Youth Advocacy Chitral.
The final match of the festival was played between Gilgit and Chitral, in which Gilgit reclaimed its lost ‘pride’ after five years.
Polo, known as the ‘game of kings’, has been played at Shandur since 1930 using ancient rules adopted by Ali Sher Khan, a descendant of Genghis Khan.
Ali also said that the volunteers participated in the installation of waste bins, display of banners, meetings with visitors and organisers, and collection, transportation and dumping of waste material during the three-day cleaning campaign. “We disposed of almost 3,300 kilograms of solid waste at selected landfill sites,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2011.
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