Even as the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has slapped a ban on use of non-biodegradable and 20-micron or less polybags in the city, few seem to abide by it. Polythene bags are being used rampantly by fish mongers, fruiters, vegetable vendors and small hotels. Among them the numerous hotels and Dhabas in the city are the major consumers of the polybags. These hotels and dhabas are supplying thousands of food parcels in polythene bags to their customers every day, entailing grave risk to the city ecology and public health.
Normally, hotels prefer polybags to aluminium foil pouches for the former being cheaper. Hotel Gorakhnath at Behera Sahi of Nayapalli region is supplying nearly 400 food packets a day. It’s supplying 300 packets out of that daily to two nearby hostels. In most of the cases, an average food parcel contains 7 to 9 polythene bags .One will not miss the piled-up poly food packets in some of the restaurants in the capital, especially, during the lunch hours.
The famous Iskcon Temple of the city sells nearly 700 food (Anna Prasada) parcels in a day. The Behera Hotel at Jayadev Vihar, quite popular among the students of the area, sells around 300 food parcels in polythene bags every day. Many hotels are providing food packets at the doorstep of these students considering their affordability. Hence, these widely scattered hotels in every nook and corner of the city are the major consumers of polythene carrier bags, which are of very low quality.
According to owner of a wholesale polythene shops at Unit-1 market, “The retail polythene sellers who are buying polythene bags from us twice a week are supplying around 50 per cent of their total stock of polythene carrier bags to hotels and dhabas of the city.”
This is not only jeopardizing our environment but also regular consumption of hot meals in polybags- that contain highly carcinogenic chemicals- is posing serious threats to the health of the students who are the primary customers of these hotels and dhabas. Besides, food starved bovine population wandering about in our immediate neighborhood is attracted more to the polythene bags with left-over in them than to the dry ones.
Noted environmentalist SN Patro, working president of the Orissa Environment Society (OES), suggested, “It would be better if the Government stops the making of polythene bags, violating the accepted norms set by it, at the manufacturing level instead of trying to rein in its usage in the market which is an uphill task.” He said the Government needs to come out with some economically affordable alternatives to polybags.
Furthermore, the Government should reach out to the students on social media to inform them the fatal consequences of using polybags to carry hot meals, Dr Patro said. In addition to the efforts of the Government there are some do’s and don’ts for the students to abide by. Students should not hesitate to sacrifice a few minutes from their study schedule to have the meal at the restaurant. They can also use small steel tiffin-carriers for carrying meals or can ask the hotels and dhabas to pack hot foods in aluminium foil pouches.