Bhubaneswar, Feb. 18: More than three years have passed since a ban on the use of polythene was imposed, but the municipal corporation is yet to curb the use of this polluting material.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had imposed a ban on the use of polythene in the city in February 2012 according to the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, and later taken up several awareness campaigns in phases to persuade people not to use it in past three years. But, nothing has yielded any result.
Sources said that due to lack of the officials' interest, the ban could not be implemented.
The rules came as a replacement for the earlier Recycled Plastic Manufacturer and Usage Rules, 1999 (amended in 2003). The ministry of environment and forest, while notifying the new rules, had made municipal authorities responsible for setting up, operating and co-ordinating the waste management system related to plastic waste.
The rules prescribe that the polythenes, to be used, should be thicker than 40 microns. This was supposed to help easy recycling as well as it would not fly in the air polluting the city environment. At present, the rampant use of polythene bags has been choking drains as well as destroying the city environment.
Despite the ban, people continue to use polythene bags in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati
However, lack of mechanism to measure the polythene bags' width and personnel to enforce the rules have made the ban ineffective. 'We are trying to create awareness among people before taking any stringent action. Till now, things are stalled only in educating people,' said an officer.
The heavy use of such plastic bags has increased its presence in solid waste created every day in the city. Sources said that out of 550 tonnes of solid waste generated every day in Bhubaneswar, 20 per cent consist of plastic. The civic body had also planned to segregate plastic from the solid waste and send it to the cement factory in Baragarh for proper treatment. But, the high cost of transporting the plastic waste to Bargarh, around 350km from the city, marred the plan and the authorities dropped it.
Sources said the ministry had recently given instructions to the civic bodies to enforce the rules and prescribe rates for plastics with thickness more than 40 microns. Environment officer B.K. Routray said they would take steps accordingly.
Even environmentalists and social activists blamed the corporation for failing to curb the malpractice. 'It seems as if the authorities do not take their own words seriously. The corporation officials have to stick to the ban if they do not want drains to choke after every shower,' said environmentalist Bijay Mishra.
However, none of the officials of the corporation preferred to talk about the failure. Mayor Anant Narayan Jena also refused to comment on the corporation's failure to implement the ban.
