Students enter Chattogram Zoo free with 100 grams of plastic, as collected waste goes to recycling

A programme has begun to hand over for recycling the plastic waste that students submit at Chattogram Zoo. Under an initiative of Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Zahidul Islam Mia, students are submitting plastic in exchange for free entry to the zoo.

The programme was inaugurated on Saturday (31 October) through a cleanliness and mosquito-eradication drive at Chattogram Zoo and the adjacent hilly stream. The district administration organised the programme, with support from the Chattogram City Corporation and YPSA Waste Management Enterprise.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Zahidul Islam Mia said free entry in exchange for plastic waste is being offered to build a sense of responsibility for protecting the environment among children and teenagers. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the district administration and YPSA Waste Management Enterprise to recycle the collected plastic.

Under the initiative, students up to the age of 18 can enter the zoo free of charge by submitting 100 grams of plastic waste. The regular entry ticket there costs 70 taka.

Speakers at the event said citizens must also act responsibly alongside initiatives by government agencies to keep the city clean. The Deputy Commissioner also spoke of an initiative to bring zebras and crocodiles to the zoo and urged children to step beyond mobile phone screens and get to know nature and the animal world.

The chief guest at the event was Chattogram City Corporation administrator Dr Shahadat Hossain. He said no single agency can keep the whole city clean on its own; the district administration, the city corporation and citizens must work together. He also stressed keeping the zoo adjoining Foy’s Lake, the hilly stream and natural water bodies free of pollution.

Shahadat Hossain urged people not to throw plastic containers, bottles and green coconut shells indiscriminately, to prevent dengue. He also emphasised not letting water accumulate on roofs, balconies and courtyards. He said 20 compactor dump trucks from Japan will be added to the city corporation for waste management.

Presenting information on the district administration’s earlier cleanliness drives, the Deputy Commissioner said the 25 July drive removed 135 tonnes of waste from an area of about ten million square feet covering more than 3,000 government buildings and institutions. Some 6,200 officers and employees and 2,295 educational institutions took part in that drive.

He said cleanliness drives were later carried out at Kazibari pond, Patenga beach and the Zia Smriti Complex. Cleanliness and awareness programmes were also held at about 2,000 mosques in the district and around the kitchens of about 100 hotels and restaurants, and dengue-prevention drives are continuing in various upazilas.

Chattogram City Corporation chief conservancy officer Captain Shamim Mohammad Khan, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Md Sharif Uddin, Additional Deputy Commissioner (LA) Md Kamruzzaman and Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Sakhawat Jamil Saikat, along with other district administration officials, were present at the event.