Uttar Pradesh government has for the fourth time issued orders to totally ban polythene bags from September 1.
”Why the previous orders were not complied with? Why are these bags still available in open market? ” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi asked the officials. Now, the government has decided to hold local police station and its in-charge responsible for use of polythene in their area.
Awasthi said if there was further delay in compliance, then action would be taken against local police and administrative officials.
”We have been told that polythene less than 50 micron thickness is banned. But there are polythene and plastics that are used as packaging material. Whether they too are banned, we do not know. We seize only those items which our seniors ask us to do,” a municipal corporation officer said on condition of anonymity.
Interestingly, this is the fourth government directive in the last one year on banning the sale of polythene in open market.
The first order was issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on July 15, 2018, after Allahabad High Court banned polythene. The CM had announced that Uttar Pradesh would be plastic and polythene-free. Adityanath had even signed a government order saying that thermocoal would also be banned in UP from October 2, 2018.
The bureaucracy was entrusted with the job to ensure that plastic glasses and polythene bags were not available in open market. Orders were issued to seal factories where such plastic bags were manufactured. The government also said that alternative things would be made available to the people.
After the initial euphoria fizzled out, plastic and polythene made a comeback in the open market. Once the High Court questioned the state government over ban on plastic and polythene, the government became active again in May 2019 and on June 3, 2019, Adityanath held another round of meeting with officials asking them to implement the ban in letter and spirit.
The CM even reminded the officials that Swachh Bharat was the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it should be implemented in totality. But after a cosmetic ban, polythene was back again.
When Lucknow Municipal Corporation authorities raided a shop and confiscated plastic boxes and containers on the ground that plastic and polythene were banned, the traders were shocked as they were never told by the administration that even plastic boxes and containers came under single-use plastic and were banned.
”Do you think government actually wants to ban polythene? These orders (to ban polythene) are a ploy for local police and municipal corporation inspectors to fleece traders and roadside vendors. If they really wanted to ban polythene, they should have sealed factories producing polythene bags. These factories are not closed as the owners give handsome bribes to the officers,” said trader leader Sandeep Bansal here on Saturday. (UNI)
