As part of a ‘Green and Clean Darjeeling’ campaign, the police here will make it compulsory for all vehicles to have ‘waste bags,’ so that passengers do not throw rubbish on the roads. Today, the Darjeeling Police sold around 380 bags prepared at Hayden Hall, a social organisation, among various taxi syndicates as part of this initiative. “A concept was there to introduce garbage bags in vehicles, so that the passengers do not throw waste like bottles and wrappers on the roads and litter the area.

The district administration, along with the police, has decided to make it compulsory for all vehicles to have such bags,” Darjeeling Police Traffic OC, Dorjee Sherpa, said. “These bags are being prepared by Hayden Hall, with them charging Rs 250 per piece, which we are getting from them and selling to the various taxi syndicates first. They have supplied us with 500 bags in the first lot, from which about 380 bags were taken today by the different syndicates. Hayden Hall will provide more bags in the second lot and drivers will have to buy them,” he added.

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According to Mr Sherpa, there are around 1885 vehicles in the different taxi syndicates, with around 1800 operating at present. “We will make this compulsory for all vehicles, and after the second lot of bags are taken, we will launch a drive to check if the vehicles have been following the rules. Later on, as more bags are available, we will also make it compulsory for all other vehicles, including those of the government and police,” said Mr Sherpa.

Welcoming the move, a member of the Ghoom Jorebunglow Dali Syndicate, Jyoti Thapa, said, “Passengers used to throw waste like plastic bottles and wrappers outside the vehicles, while some of them also left them inside the vehicle. We feel that these waste bags are in the right direction, provided the passengers use them. We must be able to convinve them in doing so.” The syndicate has about 184 vehicles.

A member of the Takdah Glenburn Syndicate, Topgey Bhutia, said, “Police should conduct checks to see if these bags are being used, while drivers must also see to it that they are used. Moreover, the drivers, in turn, should dispose of the garbage collected in the bags at a proper place and not on the streets.