3 years on, plastic bag use rampant, ban only on paper

GURGAON: The administration first woke up to one of the major threats to the environment and took action against the use of plastic bags in the city about three years ago. However, the three-year-old ban on the use of plastic bags exists largely only on paper. The bags are still widely used by customers and shopkeepers in blatant defiance of the law.
The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), in a special report in 2010, said that people carrying plastic bags thinner than 40mm and less than 12 X 18 inches would be liable to be challaned. The department declared a challan of Rs 500 on anyone who is caught with a plastic bag of the mentioned dimensions.
The shopkeepers dispensing plastic bags were to be fined Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000.
Various agencies and non-government organizations (NGO) are trying to make people aware of the harmful effects of plastic bags and encourage them to use bags made of paper, cloth or jute.
Vivek Kamboj, founder of an NGO, Haryali, has been distributing jute bags for free to various residents’ welfare associations and social activists in Gurgaon.
“The beautiful jute bags are being distributed to people to educate people on the environmental hazards of plastic bags. We are not promoting paper bags because they can be used only once and they are made at the cost of trees. So jute is a good option. These bags also have a layer of plastic, but the layer is very thin. They are reusable and could last for about a year, depending on the usage,” said Kamboj.
Many NGOs have come up with the concept of environment-friendly bags which are priced at Rs 25 each and are expecting help from the RWAs, so that people develop the habit easily. These bags are in Tafetta fabric and one can carry up to 5kg to 6 kg of things in them easily. Even washing them is easy.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had said that the threat of plastic bags was bigger than that of the atom bomb for the next generation.
Issuing notice in a PIL to the Centre and state governments, a bench comprising Justice G S Singhvi and Justice S J Mukhopadhyay said that unless a complete ban was imposed on plastic bags, the situation would get out of hand.
Not only NGOs but also the corporate sector is in the forefront of the fight for the cause. A certain retail chain, for instance, has been focusing on environmentally sustainable initiatives with goals of eliminating waste being powered by renewable energy and selling sustainable products to help people save money and lead a better life.
To maintain environment sustainability, a supermarket chain gives its customers the option of carrying their purchases in eco-friendly cloth bags made from recycled fabric.