The ban on polythene in Dehradun appears to be ineffective as many traders and public continue to use these banned items inspite of the efforts undertaken by the authorities. “Customers prefer to buy vegetables or fruits from vendors who give these items in polythene bags,” said vendor Santosh Kumar who sets his vegetable cart near Tehsil Chowk. “We are poor people and need to use polythyene bags in our business as we cannot afford the eco friendly bags which are costlier than the polythene bags,” he added.
Anwar, who runs a juice shop near the Tehsil said that it will be hard for him to run his shop without using polythene because, many customers ask for the juice to be packed. “Some customers have their own bottles in which we given the juice but otherwise we use polythene bags for packing the juice,” he said. Radha Devi, a home maker who lives in Hathibadkala said, “When sometimes we forget to take our bag for shopping, the shopkeepers hand over the purchased items in paper bag which tends to tear due to the load. If a shopkeeper does not keep polythene bags then he must keep eco friendly bags,”she opined.
With the date for the lok Sabha election being announced, the authorities are expected to get busier with election related works in addition to ensuring timely completion of repair and construction works in areas affected by the disaster last year. Considering this, it remains to be seen whether the ban on polythene will be forgotten once again in the State capital.