M S Nazki
Poonch, Apr 22: The blatant use of polythene bags continue in Poonch Mandi Surankote Mendhar unabated despite the fact that the High Court has banned the use of the non-biodegradable material in the state.
Though the concerned departments are trying to curb the menace of polythene bags yet its continued usage is not only harming the ecosystem but also reproducing a lot of inconvenience to public.
Regarding this Javid Iqbal Jatt said, "The use of polythene was banned in the state through SRO-182 issued by the state government on June 18, 2008 under the Jammu and Kashmir Non-Biodegradable material (Management, Handling and Disposal) Act, 2007. Its use is rampant across the state, more so in the rural areas, where the respective Rural Development Deparment Poonch has failed to initiate any corrective steps".
Expressing his views over the hazards of usage of poly bags Rakesh Gupta said that manufacture, trade and use of polythene bags was declared illegal and the government issued guidelines to ensure that the ban remained in force. "But the government has failed to impose the ban in letter and spirit and its use continues to harm the fragile ecosystem," he irked.
"The RDD Poonch authorities make occasional seizures of polythene bags, but in the rural areas, the civic bodies have failed to take steps to curb its use," said Neeraj Sharma adding that the unabated use of polythene bags is presently creating lot of problems as far as the cleanliness is concerned. Not only this, it would be detrimental to the fragile environment in the long run.
Miffed over the pathetic attitude of concerned departments, Chandi Sharma said that dealing public interest litigation, the High Court had put a blanket ban on the use and import of polythene bags and directed the civic bodies to take stringent action against the practice. "A couple of years have elapsed since the court imposed the ban but nothing remarkable has been done in this regard," he added.
Ruhi Nazki resident of Harni said that the manufacture, trade and use of polythene bags is illegal, with the government issuing guidelines to ensure that the ban remains in force.
However, its use is rampant across the state, more so in the rural areas, where the respective civic bodies have failed to initiate any corrective steps. "Government should include school and college students in various awareness programmes concerning the harmful effects of using polythene bags," he advocated.
Subash Bali alleging the concerned authorities said that despite the government imposing a ban on the use of polythene bags in the state, use of the product has been going on unchecked in most of the regions.
"The impact of the ban is not up to the mark and the use of polythene has diminished marginally in the state," he added. In the lack of awareness programmes, the rural people are totally unaware of the law relating to the use of polythene bags."The question is how banned items are finding their way into the city despite so many checks. There is need to investigate the whole issue so that action could be taken against people who are involved in illegal dumping and selling to retailers," said Vikas Sharma. |
