Kohima: Nagaland government is focusing on making the upcoming Nagaland Hornbill Festival 2019 a plastic-free, zero waste and clean event.
The ten-day festival will kick off on December 1 at the Naga Heritage Village in Kisama which is about 10 km east of Kohima.
A coordination meeting was held on Wednesday between the government and tribal Hohos which touched on various issues like management of morungs or dormitories, cultural troupes, accommodation, transportation and others.
To ensure a plastic free and zero waste festival, the Tourism Department requested the tribal Hohos and apex bodies of all tribes to extend their cooperation.
The convener of the Zero Waste Himalayan, Nagaland (ZWHN), LH Thangi Mannen, said that zero waste is all about complete reduction of single use plastic items such as plastic bottles, styrofoam, plastic bags, plastic gift warps and others.
“This would also include plastic decorations, flex banners and volunteer identity cards. The reduction is followed by segregation for recovering resources and responsible disposal and no burning,” she told the meeting.
She further insisted on restricting packaged drinking water in food stalls or anywhere else in the venue.
Mannen also urged the tribal Hohos to provide boiled and filtered water to the visitors.
Regarding the numerous stalls that would be set up at the venue, Mannen said that local food stalls should be promoted and called for curtailment of packaged food products, while encouraging the use of reusable utensils.
Addressing the meeting, the principal secretary for School Education and SCERT Nagaland, Menukhol John, requested the tribal Hohos to keep their respective morungs clean and to maintain their originality.
Seeking support and cooperation from all the tribal Hohos, Nagaland Tourism Director Akhale Vizol said that all efforts will be made to ensure the success of the festival and urged the tribal Hohos to renovate their respective morungs at the earliest.
Akhale also urged the tribal Hohos to play traditional music instead of western music in their respective morungs. (UNI)
