PUNE, Feb 6: Besides taking care of citizens' safety and internal strike, the Army seems to have discovered another welcome peace-time role for itself - environmental conservation.With the College of Military Engineering (CME) having imposed a ban on plastics within its lush green environs in the last week and the National Defence Academy already following the dictum strictly and severely, environment-savvy Army establishments in the city are slowly going plastic-free one after the other. INS Shivaji, the Naval base at Lonavala has gone a step further, taking measures to ensure scientific disposal of plastic.Southern Command and Dehu Road have not implemented such a ban yet but according to the Armed Forces spokesperson D J Narain, the matter was brought up at the Chief of the Staff Conference a month back. ``The point was that Pune cantonment should be made free of plastic, but further meetings need to be held,'' he says.Meanwhile, CME, the premier Armed Forces Engineering college, which trains theIndian Army engineers, beginning last week, has made punishable the use of plastic bags by shopkeepers inside the campus. ``Though plastic bags were banned six months back, to ensure implementation, a fine of Rs 2,000 has been levied on any shopkeeper found selling wares in them,'' informs General Sohoni, Deputy Commandant, CME. While fruit sellers have switched to brown paper bags, the shoppers are expected to get their own baskets for grocery and stationery. ``There are 12,000 people staying within the campus which include 2,000 families. Plastic bags which were collecting to the extent of 8,000 a day, had become a nuisance,'' he says. There were a lot of bags caught in the trees and even otherwise littering up the beautiful campus, he says. The CME with its lush greenery, beautiful wide drives and two glittering lakes has already been animal-friendly, with shooting banned inside the campus that boasts of considerable wildlife - both birds, animals as well as fish.The National Defence Academy (NDA) atKhadakvasla is another military establishment which has had a ban on plastic packets for more than three years now. Gol Market, the central shopping complex in the NDA premises does not make sales in plastic bags. While cadets carry their own khaki satchels, the rest of the officers and their families have to make do with paper packets and shopping bags.``Part of our premises have been declared as an animal sanctuary and we have bird watching and nature study clubs,'' informs Major Joshi, NDA spokesperson, adding that all this was taken into account while imposing a ban on plastic bags. ``We have Duty Officers routinely carrying out checks to ensure that the rules are being followed,'' he says.INS Shivaji, is meanwhile the only establishment which has marched into scientific disposal. The CME, which has its garbage picked up by the Cantonment Board for disposal, has not felt the need for it yet.
