Rams choke

Times of India – 26 July 2012

Only plastic ban won't do, experts seek law to stop littering

KOLKATA: "Two rams choked on plastic bags and died while grazing on the Maidan a couple of days back," said Mrityunjoy Sarkar, an animal activist who runs an animal rehab centre at his Watgunge house. "I saw them dying after a convulsion during my regular morning walk. I spoke to the shepherd boy who said this was not the first time this had happened to his sheep. But these deaths never get registered. If they did, we would have had a horror story. Just by banning plastic bags below 40 microns in thickness, the authorities are making it just another bureaucratic affair, without any purpose or zeal," added Sarkar.

A senior state pollution control board scientist echoed Sarkar. "The plastic is getting us really choked and such days are not far away when life will come to a standstill because of our callous habit of littering plastic. Unfortunately, there has been no campaign against plastic-littering."

A TOI survey revealed that plastic littering is all pervasive. No road, no ground and no waterbody - including Lal Dighi in front of Writers' Buildings, perhaps the most well-kept waterbody of the city, and those at Victoria Memorial - has been able to escape the menace.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is only enforcing a ban on the use of plastic bags below 40 microns in thickness. "But who will prevent plastic tea-cups, gutka or shampoo sachets which are worse polluters? They easily slip through manholes or the concrete filters of the underground drainage system. These elements are no less chokers for drainage pumping sets," said a Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority officer.

Interestingly, however, the Supreme Court has banned the packaging of gutka in plastic sachets. Following the Supreme Court order, the environment ministry had also banned the packaging of gutka products in sachets (Rule 5 of the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, prohibits the use of plastic materials in sachets for storing, packaging or selling gutka, tobacco and pan masala). But the plastic sachets containing tobacco are everywhere in the city and there is no compliance of the central rule.

State environment secretary RPS Kahlon said: "We do not have any legal provision against plastic littering. But eventually, we have to enact a law so that an offender does not get away by throwing plastic bags and sachets. Spot-fines could be introduced to penalize offenders." He admitted that littering is worrisome in the state as it is in other parts of the country. Kahlon said that PCB is suffering from a severe man-power shortage. It is a matter to be handled by municipal bodies, he added.

"I found the mere ban on plastic bags below 40 micron thickness is somewhat untenable. Who will measure whether a particular bag is below 40 micron or not? The city has become a paradise for littering plastic wastes. There is no dearth of rules in our country. Only its effective enforcement can inculcates a habit of proper disposal of plastic waste. Littering is an offence in most of the developed countries, where penalty comes in the form of hefty fines or sustained community services or both by state statutes or city ordinances," said environment activist Subhas Datta.

In India, Meghalaya is stringent against littering. The Goa government is becoming an exception by making littering of plastic at roadsides and beaches a cognizable offence. Chief minister Manohar Parrikar himself announced it. Parrikar told the legislative assembly that the government is mulling to make plastic littering a cognizable offence by December this year and to punish the offender with a severe penalty.

As early as in August, 2002, the government prohibited carrying, use and sale of non-biodegradable PET bottles and plastic carry bags in certain coastal regulation zones in Panaji and neighboring Caranzalem and Dona Paula, while for other beach areas in Goa, the matter would be taken up in consultation with all stakeholders.

Even Indian Plastic Federation officials want stringent enforcement against littering. "Plastic is so popular because of its utilitarian value. If it is disposed of properly, plastic will continue to do good for mankind. But because of its low-cost existence in our life we tend to throw them away, without understanding its consequences. If this continues, the authority will be forced to ban plastic which will turn a huge workforce jobless," said an IPF official. In fact, the Supreme Court threatened to enforce a complete ban on the use of plastic in the interests of animals and the environment.

Ban on plastic bags, but you can carry on using them

Published: Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012, 19:42 IST
By Chaitra Devarhubli | Place: Ahmedabad | Agency: DNA


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<>  <><>    <> <>  <> It has been over a year since the state government banned plastic less than 40 microns thick. But who cares? Not shopkeepers, and certainly not customers. The banned plastic is found across Ahmedabad - at shops and vegetable and fruit vendors. Most shopkeepers DNA spoke to used the same line that demand was fuelling supply. “We can’t help it. Customers keep demanding the carry bags which compel us to keep them. Also, we can afford these low priced bags. The thick plastic bags are environment-friendly, but they burn a hole in our pockets,” said a fast-food joint owner at Prahladnagar, who did not wish to be named. Another grocery shop owner at Ambawadi Ashokbhai said, “The civic authorities have raided my shop thrice and, each time, I had to pay a hefty fine and my stock of plastic bags was seized. But such bags prove economical for us due to which they are to be found in a majority of shops.” Over a year after the notification banning the use of thin plastic bags came into effect in February 2011, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials offer several excuses to explain poor implementation. “We are finding it difficult to trace the manufacturers of these plastic bags. If the root of the problem is removed, then such bags will not be distributed. Unfortunately the bags are not branded, nor is the name or place of business mentioned on them,” said an official in AMC’s health department. AMC’s medical health officer Dr Suhas Kulkarni says they have conducted a series of raids to crack down on the use of banned plastic. “Between February and December 2011, we seized 22,540 kg of plastic below 40 microns, issued 4,616 notices and collected Rs6.56 lakh in fines. Also, a total of 47 shops, where such plastic was found in large quantities, were raided,” he said. Similarly, between January and June 2012, a total of 3,666 kg of plastic bags below 40 microns was seized, 2,130 notices were served and Rs10.08 lakh in fines collected by the health department. Recently, the health department conducted a raid at Kalupur and sealed seven shops manufacturing the banned plastic bags. Clearly, all this is not enough as rampant use of the banned plastic continues. A senior health official in the AMC says the banned plastic is rumoured to be manufactured in large quantities in Kalol. Kalol is not in AMC jurisdiction and, hence, the civic body’s hands are tied, the official says.

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