india

Updated: Oct 02, 2019 21:56 IST

Tourism minister Prahlad Patel on Wednesday announced that single use plastic will not be allowed within and around 100 metres of monuments. He was speaking at the inauguration of the Paryatan Parv in New Delhi.

“Ministry officials were informed on September 11 to work around banning single-use plastic around these areas. So, all of our agencies as well monuments that come under the purview of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will not use any single use plastic,” the minister announced.

The Paryatan Parv, inaugurated by Patel in a function attended by union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Dharmendra Pradhan, will continue till October 13.

The significance of inaugurating the Parv on Gandhi Jayanti is to understand his efforts of using travelling as a tool to study the country’s culture, Patel said.

“After he came back to India, he travelled across the breadth of the country to understand the culture and the people. Tourism is not just visiting places, it is a peep into the people of a place,” the minister added.

India currently ranks 36th on the World Tourism Index. Patel said that the tourism ministry has the potential to improve the country’s ranking.

While one leg of the Parv will be held at the Rajpath Lawns, with pavilions of 31 states, between October 2 to 6, the festival will continue across several tourists sites in the country.