Dainik Bhaskar Group, the largest print media company in India and home to flagships Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, and Divya Marathi, continues pushing its environmental agenda with a new initiative in Lucknow. The Hazratganj Market turned into an environmental awareness hub as the Dainik Bhaskar App teamed up with Lucknow Nagar Nigam to conduct a massive “Say No to Plastic” Mass Awareness Drive. The initiative has been timed to coincide with International Plastic Bag Free Day and will educate and encourage the public on the reduction of plastic usage and embracing eco-friendly alternatives.
The raison d’être of this event was a striking installation at Hazratganj’s main junction with a Plastic Ravana. This was against the symbolic effigy that was intricately made out of various plastic material wastes, drawing parallels to the mythological demon king Ravana, therefore suggesting the menace of plastic pollution and campaigning for its elimination in everyday life.
In the evening, CMP launched an energetic rally of more than 150 participants that began from Hazratganj Chauraha, reaching Janpath Market, and then returning via the same route, with lots of energy and bright placards highlighting the fact that “Plastic Pollution Must End”. Jute bags reminiscent of sustainable alternatives were handed out to people, asking them to renounce plastic-carrying bags. As part of this drive, many shop doors were the target of a stickering campaign, implore customers to carry reusable bags to market as part of the eco-sensitive message of this whole campaign.
Prominent amongst these were the Municipal Commissioner, Mayor, Directorate of Urban Development, Police Department officials, and representatives from leading social organizations/NGOs.
Dainik Bhaskar Group has a regular history of running campaigns for raising awareness about various critical environmental issues across the country. From Save Birds to Water Satyagraha, the group is single-mindedly creating a culture of environmental consciousness all over India.
The “No Plastic Campaign” has been widely socialized through the distribution of thousands of jute bags annually among residential societies, parks, and markets of Lucknow. This year’s event is highlighted by the symbolic Plastic Ravana, which certainly captured public attention and showed the public that plastic is as much a demon as the king of demons and poses huge environmental threats and must be eradicated to have a pollution-free city.
