Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Choudhary Lal Singh inaugurated two-day J&K State Athletic Championship at Jammu University, here this afternoon.The Championship, organized by School Sports Promotion Foundation (SSPF) a Non-Government Organisation in collaboration with Ministry for Sports and Youth Affairs and Ministry of Human Resource Development GOI, saw participation of 320 students from 27 schools of the state.Interacting with the players, the Minister highlighted the need of extra-curricular activities for overall personality development of the students. He said sports should be made an integral part of course curriculum so that the students not only excel academically but also remain physically and mentally fit.Choudhary Lal Singh said that Government has taken several steps for strengthening and upgrading sports infrastructure in the State. He said sports complexes would be constructed at block level and every Panchayat would have a sports field.Earlier, the Minister formally declared the 2-day Athletic championship open by unfurling the SSPF flag.Assistant irector SSPF Ravi Shankar Pandit gave a resume of the Athletic Championship and said that the winning teams of the championship would be sent to Maharashtra for competitions .
Later, the Minister chaired a meeting with State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) officials to review the status of implementation of ban on polythene in the state. He directed the officers to take strict action against polythene smuggling adding that Government has formulated an action plan to take polythene smugglers to task.Chairman SPCB B Sidhartha, Regional Director SPCB Ch Showkat Ali besides other senior officers of SPCB attended the meeting.The Minister said that strict guidelines have been issued to the officers at Lakhanpora, Lower Munda toll posts for keeping an eye on the smuggling of polythene across the State. He said that similar instructions have been issued to the industrial units for restricting manufacturing of polythene bags. He said that units not complying with the State Pollution Control Board guidelines would be dealt sternly as per the law.Choudhary Lal Singh further said that instructions have already been passed to the concerned officers to launch a massive anti-polythene smuggling campaign across the State.