With imposition of a ban from October 2, plastic bags may soon be a thing of the past

Jamshedpur, Sept. 12: Get ready to dump your plastic bags for ones made of paper or jute. Yes, the days of plastic bags, the ubiquitous accessories for shopping, are numbered and cloth, jute and paper bags are all set to flood the market after October 2.

The process was initiated yesterday by an anti-plastic campaign organised by deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar Burnwal at Jhanda Chowk in Sakchi.

As many as 250 students from ADLS Sunshine School, Kasidih Girls? High School and Kerala Public School participated in the campaign to create awareness about the disadvantages of the plastic bags among the shopkeepers.

Apart from presenting samples of cloth bags, the students also distributed stickers to the shopkeepers reading ?Don?t embarrass us by asking for polybags?.

The campaign against the use of plastic bags for shopping or any other purpose was set into motion after the deputy commissioner imposed a ban on their use. It started in the schools as a campaign but gradually spilled on to the streets as a cause supported by the corporate houses as well as the administration.

While on one hand, schools such as Carmel Junior College replaced polythene bags with jute bags, Tata Steel went a step further by endorsing cloth bags among the city shopkeepers.

Cloth bags are a cheaper alternative and the Tata Steel Community Development and Social Welfare (CD&SW) department has already presented samples to the shopkeepers.

?The samples shown to the shopkeepers are made of cheap but strong material and come at a throwaway price of Rs 3,? said Govind Madhav Sharan, head, CD&SW.

Jute bags, said Sharan, though a good alternative, might not be economical.

?Jute bags will not be economical as their production cost is much higher. The best option for shoppers will be cloth bags. The idea might sound outdated to many, but, keeping in mind the environmental hazard caused by plastic bags, it is the best option available,? said Sharan.

Though the Bazaar Samity and the CD&SW have been considering a number of options, the formal announcement of a ban on polybags of less than 20 microns from October 2 has forced them to choose a feasible alternative.

?Yoshita, a self-help group of the ladies? wing of CD&SW has already made 200 cloth bags. There are three sizes to suit different purposes. Large-scale production will start as soon as the shopkeepers decide to buy them,? said Sharan.