Residents with a thick polythene bag. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Once Chhath is over, be ready to pay for polythene bags of more than 40 microns thickness authorised by the civic body.

The alleged reluctance of shoppers to pay for polythene bags of more than 40 microns thickness has turned the Patna Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) July ban on the thinner bags futile. Bags of less than 40 microns are being used openly. The civic body admitted slackness on the issue but claimed that it would intensify action against offenders after Chhath.

A shopkeeper has to buy a polythene bag of less than 40 microns for around 30 paise, while a poly bag above 40 microns costs around Rs 1.50.

“Polythene bags of more than 40 microns are quite expensive for shopkeepers. These bags are hardly used, as people are still not used to paying for them at grocery shops. If I am adamant on charging for these polythene bags, customers threaten to go to some other shop where they would get bags for free. Obviously, the ones they would get for free would be less than 40 microns in thickness,” said Ramesh Kumar, a shopkeeper at Ram Nagari Colony.

PMC has claimed that it would start drives against the distribution of poly bags of less than 40 microns after Chhath. “Monitoring on poly bags is supposed to be done at the level of sanitary inspectors. But the job doesn’t seem to have been done properly. Everyone is busy in Chhath preparations now. So the commissioner has said the drives against the banned polythene bags would start after the fest,” said a PMC official.

PMC fixed the minimum price of polythene bags of more than 40 microns at Rs 5 through an order. “The idea behind fixing such a high price for poly bags was to dissuade people from using them and to promote cloth or jute bags,” added the official.

Residents, however, are not open to the idea of paying Rs 5 for a polythene bag. “I am not ready to pay Rs 5 extra. Moreover, where is the guarantee that I would be given the authorised polythene bag?” said Saurav Kumar, a resident of SK Nagar.

People like him can check the authenticity of the bags by verifying the name of the manufacturer and the licence details printed on them.

PMC imposed the ban on the use of polythene bags less than 40 microns in adherence to the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, notified by the ministry of environment and forests on February 7, 2011. The rules entail ban on the manufacture and the use of recyclable carry bags of less than 40 microns, prohibition on use of carry bags made of recycled polythene or compostable polythene for storing, carrying, dispensing or packing food items.