Nearly a decade after Uttarakhand Government declared a State-wide ban on polythene bags, the use of polythene bags, polystyrene ‘disposable’ items and other non-biodegradable garbage has continued unabated causing considerable environmental damage and civic problems like clogged drains and water-logging.
Barring occasional action taken by local administration against the stocking and use of polythene bags-mostly in shops, the State Government has not yet taken decisive action to set up an efficient system to enforce the law regarding polythene bags and other non-biodegradable garbage. Past announcements of ambitious works like establishing hi-tech plastic treatment and processing plant which would convert plastic waste in to petrol, diesel and other fuels, now appear unrealistic with State authorities evidently taking little interest in enforcing regulation to stall further damage to the environment, public health and wildlife by polythene and other non-biodegradable garbage.
Experts from the spheres of town planning, governance and conservation opine that the waste management component which is considered to be among the major aspects of planned urbanisation, is either being neglected or being delayed due to various factors ranging from government red-tapism and political influence to issues of resource allocation and public apathy.
Talking to The Pioneer, the Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli blamed the State Government, stating that the Government needs to undertake enactment of legal provisions without which the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun, with its limited resources, is not able to tackle the polythene problem on its own. “Considering our limited resources, we are trying to do what we can on the issues of polythene bag prohibition and waste management,” he said.
Successive State Governments have claimed credit for various developmental works while also focusing on conservation of the State’s environment and wildlife—considered to be the main resource of a State with more than 60 per cent of its geographical area under forest cover. During the first stint of BC Khanduri as Chief Minister (2007-09), the BJP-led State Government had declared a State-wide ban on polythene bags and polystyrene disposable items of particular specifications which were evidently identified as among the major threats to the environment in Uttarakhand. During the period, the chairman of the now defunct Hill Electronics Corporation limited (Hiltron) BD Raturi had said that Hiltron would assist Municipal Corporation of Dehradun in facilitation of the machinery and technology for building a plastic waste treatment and processing plant akin to the one working in Nagpur, Maharashtra. The plant would convert plastic waste in to petrol, diesel and other fuels but little was achieved in this case with the Hiltron itself being dissolved.
On July 23, 2012, the then CS Alok Kumar Jain had written to all district magistrates, senior superintendents of police, member secretary of the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board, director Urban Development directorate and director Panchayati Raj department regarding the ban on polythene bags in Uttarakhand. He had written that according to the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011, carry bags of recycled plastic or compostable plastics cannot be used for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging food stuffs; manufacturing, stocking, distribution or sale of any carry bag made of virgin, recycled or compostable plastic less than 40 microns in thickness is prohibited and that sachets using plastic materials shall not be used for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.
Directions were issued for formation of a State level advisory body under the urban development secretary to monitor the implementation of these prohibitions, holding its meet once a year. This State level advisory body has remained limited mostly on paper as is evident in Dehradun where use of polythene bags is on the rise again.