BHAKTAPUR: Marking the beginning of Hanumante River Cleanup Campaign in the bordering area of Kaushaltar and Suryabinayak of Bhaktapur district today, Minister for Population and Environment Lalbabu Pandit has pledged to book environment polluters, regardless of who they are.

Minister Pandit said that vehicles without green stickers would be banned to ply in the Metropolitan and Sub-Metropolitan cities from April 14, 2018, which falls on the Nepali New Year.

'The vehicles without green stickers would be banned from movement. 45 per cent of the vehicles having green stickers emit black smoke. Now, action will be taken against such vehicles,' Minister Pandit was quoted as saying in Rastriya Samachar Samiti.

He also added that actions will be taken against the owners of such vehicles emitting harmful smoke and government officials providing green stickers to such vehicles without conducting proper tests.

Likewise, the factories producing non-biodegradable plastic bags would be banned from production and organic bags would be promoted, Minister Pandit shared.

He said that brick kilns violating environment laws would be made environment-friendly and would be brought under the law if they continue running in an unregulated manner.

On the occasion, he reiterated that he would make Kathmandu a dust-free city so that people can breathe without using masks.

During the programme, lawmaker Mahesh Basnet said that Hanumante cleanup campaign had been initiated as the identity of the historical city of Bhaktapur was being compromised and infectious diseases had started to appear in the area due to increasing pollution.

Province Assembly member Shashi Jung Thapa, Mayor of Suryabinayak Municipality Basudev Thapa, and other speakers also expressed their opinions on the occasion.

Around 1,000 people including Red Cross activists and members of different social organisations in the district took part in the cleanup mission.

Hanumante River cleanup campaign would be held every Saturdays. A total of 10 metric tonnes of garbage was extracted from the river today.

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