After the recent decision of the State Forest department to ensure blanket ban on use of plastic bags, the district administration is planning to approach the Department of Industries for closing down all illegal plastic manufacturing units heedlessly operating in State Capital.
A district administration official said that after the enforcement of blanket ban on polythene, it will be easier to conduct raids and penalize the violators for infringing the set environmental guidelines.
“Blanket ban can be imposed easily by the district administration team. We have asked for the list of all plastic manufacturers, including the retailers from the Department of Industries. This time we are planning to target the bigger units from where the plastics are supplied to the small shops. If the supply chain is destroyed, it is easy to put a check on small shop owners using polythene,” said Ranchi DC Manoj Kumar.
Kumar further added after imposing a blanket ban on plastic bags wholesale dealers will be targeted predominantly using or selling polythene below 50 microns. Earlier, a ban only on plastic below 50 microns was imposed that was a major hurdle in implementing complete ban on plastic bags usage here in the Capital.
“Earlier, the measurement issue was a big problem. Due to human resource crisis also we were not able to impose ban despite making several attempts. In addition, we were required an expert team to measure the polythene that is below 50 microns. Imposing a ban on a specific type of polythene earlier is not possible,” the DC said.
Similarly, citing constrains on completely banning the polythene below 50 microns, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) Chairperson, AK Pandey, said, “Earlier, we have trained few resource persons from Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) to examine and measure the polythene that is below 50 microns. But, even after this, several urban local body (UlB) officials were finding it difficult to impose complete ban on plastic bags.”
Taking rigorous steps and following the orders of Chief Minister Raghubar Das to completely ban the use of plastic bags in Jharkhand adversely affecting the ecosystem, the Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change has invited suggestions from public, including other stakeholders to register their grievances and suggestions on imposing complete plastic ban in State.
Special Secretary, Forest and Environment, AK Rastogi said that the department will ensure complete ban on polythene within 2-3 months’ time. “The department is ready with the plan. Before the State government imposes complete ban on plastic bags, the applications have been invited to get suggestions, including objections from public. All the grievances will be scrutinized and compiled.”
Ironically, all attempts to put a ban on polythene below 50 microns in the past proved ineffective. In spite of conducting awareness drive and making several attempts to implement the environment norms on discarding polythene neither the civic body nor the district administration could implement the ban on plastic bags in a full-fledged way.