Ahmedabad: Around 20 tractorloads of plastic waste, some two tonnes, was recovered from the periphery of Sasan Gir as part of a move to free the last abode of the Asiatic lion from plastic.The forest department, as part of celebrations of the 50th year of the sanctuary, has taken up a drive to make the sanctuary and its periphery free of plastic. The sanctuary turned 50 on September 18 last year.A P Singh, chief conservator of forests says that apart from removing plastic from the periphery, the forest department is going to propose a complete ban on the use of plastic in Sasan and nearby areas. "We will first clean the area and then will talk to traders and persuade them to end the use of plastic. In the last stage, we will persuade tourists not to leave plastic anywhere in the area."On Friday, the wildlife division of Sasan Gir had organized a camp for 250 people, including NGO workers, college students local villagers, guides, drivers and forest staff.Ram Ratan Nala DCF of wildlife division Sasan Gir said participants were divided in 13 teams to collect plastic waste. Within three hours, some 2,000 kg of plastic waste was collected from around the village."Senior officials of the department said the sanctuary has already been made plastic-free. The department in 2014 made it mandatory for all the tourist vehicles entering the sanctuary, to have a dustbin."It was the responsibility of the guide and the driver to ensure that tourists did not litter inside the sanctuary. Further, drivers and guides were instructed to collect any plastic bags they saw on their route," said a senior officer.

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