More than one month after the authorities began enforcement of the high court ordered State-wide ban on polythene bags and polystyrene disposables in Dehradun, the prohibition has remained largely limited to official talk and some action with the banned items being used blatantly across the provisional state capital. The enforcement of the prohibition by the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun and district administration has had limited effect on the business fraternity, general public and even the governmental set-up as the banned items are being used blatantly by people in different segments of society. With Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat directing officials to enforce total prohibition on all types of polythene from July, observers hope that there might be some improvement in enforcement of the ban on polythene and polystyrene disposables in the coming months.
Despite the awareness campaign and fines imposed on those found violating the ban by official teams formed for enforcing the prohibition, the widespread use of banned polythene and polystyrene disposables has largely remained as widespread as it was before the authorities began enforcement in Dehradun from April 1.
The Dehradun municipal commissioner Vijay Kumar Jogdande said, “We have given notice to the sanitation officers and team leaders to keep a check on the usage of polythene in their respective areas. We have collected a fine amounting to about Rs 7,00,000 from 400 people found violating the prohibition so far. We have also involved the district officials in the efforts and are trying to make the enforcement drive more effective,”he said.
Regarding problems being faced in enforcement of the prohibition he said that lack of awareness is a major concern. He said, “We faced a little trouble recently from the shopkeepers while enforcing the prohibition in the market area. This can be attributed to lack of awareness among the people which is one of the basic problems which we are facing. Keeping that in mind we have collaborated with local voluntary organisations to undertake public awareness programmes. The enforcement drive will be executed more effectively in the coming months,” he added.
The additional municipal commissioner Neeraj Joshi said, “We have tried our best to enforce the ban in the city for about a month now. We are planning to form more teams to keep a regular check. We are undertaking preparations and coming up with more strategies to strengthen the enforcement drive,” he said.