Chandigarh celebrates Halloween with a message- Stages silent rally on the 'Harrows of Plastic' under Plastickatimeup Campaign

Chandigarh, 31st October 2019:  In a bid to sensitize people with the ghastly implications of the use of Single Use Plastic on the environment, a Halloween Rally on the theme of 'The Harrows of Plastic' was organised jointly by the Public Relations Department, Environment Department and the Government College of Arts. The rally was a part of the plastickatimeup campaign organised by Department of Public Relations to sensitize the public about the harms of single use plastic. Sh. Debendra Dalai, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forest flagged off the rally that moved from Lake Club Chandigarh towards Sukhna lake.

The Rally was organised at the Sukhna Lake in evening to ensure that the message can be communicated to a greater audience. Students of arts college fabricated a 50 feet feet long ghostly creature - the Plastic Demon made of fibre glass which was mounted on a rikshaw.

Through a silent rally, the message it sought to deliver could be heard loud and clear, as the participants dressed as ghouls and demons of plastic, to symbolise the negative impact it has on the health of our planet.

Accompaning the float that formed the centrepiece of the  rally, participants accompanied the Plastic Demon donning creative dresses fashioned out of plastic material, and used face painting and creative slogan-boards to reiterate our city's resolve to become 'Single Use Plastic Free'.

The “ Harrows of Plastic” rally saw an outstanding response from the people. Posing for selfies and taking the plstickatimeup challenge, many of them ensured that they will stop using the single use plastic and accept the alternatives in their lives.

Sh. Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forest said “ This is a great initiative by Department of Public Relations to sensitise people about the harms of single use plastic. The month long awareness campaign concluded with a harrows of plastic silent rally which was done keeping in mind the Halloween theme. The students of Government College of Arts and its faculty has done excellent work.”

The brainchild of Department of Public Relations, Chandigarh Administration, plastickatimeup campaign is an attempt to aware people to avoid the use of single use plastic. The silent rally “Harrows of Plastic” on Halloween’s theme is one of the dramatic and flashy rally to cater maximum crowd, said the officials of Public Relations Department.

Sh. Abdul Qayum, IFS, DCF, Officers of Department of Public Relations, officials of Environment Department and faculty of Government College of Arts were also present on the occasion. Students of Youth Innovative Society also joined the rally to spread a strong message on no to single use plastic.