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| Repeated ban orders on polythene above 50 microns proves a hoax | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Oct 6: The repeated ban orders on the polythene carry bags above 50 microns in thickness have so far proved to be merely a cosmetic exercise, which failed to make any change in the usage as well as its harmful effects on the environment.
Pertinently, it was during the tenure of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coalition government that the then Forest Minister Choudhary Lal Singh had announced blanket ban on polythene bags manufactured below fifty microns (50 microns) with effect from April 3, 2017.
While imposing the ban it was asserted by the Minister that intent behind imposing blanket ban was to prevent the State’s environment and ecology getting polluted but since the imposing of ban, a slew of new orders were issued by the various quarters as well as district magistrates as well as Pollution Control Department.
The latest order has been now issued by District Magistrate Jammu today, while a similar order was also issued in the month of July 2020, while the General Administration department in the month of March 2019 had instructed the government officials not to use plastic bottles for drinking water. However despite all such orders, announcing a ban on polythene bags above 50 microns in thickness has failed to make any change in the usage of polythene bags.
Across the Jammu province and in every nook and corner of the province, even at the remotest areas, polythene carry bags above 50 microns are rampantly used and easily available. “It is still unknown whether all the polythene above 50 microns thickness is imported from other states or is clandestinely manufactured in the existing industrial units of Jammu”, an official said, adding that even without the component of recycling of the polythene above 50 microns thickness, it has been proving more dangerous for the environment and ecology.
Instead of ritualized exercises of issuing ban orders, the administration should seriously take steps intended to save the fragile ecology of Jammu and Kashmir, otherwise such cosmetic orders are not going to make even an iota of change in the overall behaviour around usage of polythene carry bags, the official said. |
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