Plastic ban

On the eve of World Environment Day, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has asked all urban local bodies to phase out single-use plastic (SUP) and contribute to the overarching clean and green mandate. In February 2022 the Central Pollution Control Board had issued directions to the urban local bodies across the country to announce plans to phase out single-use plastic (SUP) with effect from July 1. Of the 4,700-plus urban local bodies across India, only about 2,500 have till Saturday notified the ban on single-use plastic from July 1. This has prompted the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs to send out a reminder to them. Additionally, state governments will now require making sure that the remaining 2,100-odd urban local bodies notify the same by June 30. It is worth recalling that it was under the Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban 2.0, that plastic waste management, including the elimination of single-use plastic, was identified as a crucial area of focus. The Ministry has also issued a detailed advisory to the States and UTs wherein it has appealed to them to take up a range of activities, including large-scale cleaning, with special emphasis on plastic waste collection, as well as large-scale tree plantation drives, with the participation of all citizens. It is not immediately known how many urban local bodies in Assam have already made the necessary notification to ban single-use plastic. But, looking around Guwahati, one can easily say that things are not moving the way the Central Pollution Control Board has envisaged. While shopkeepers have been giving customers plastic and polythene bags of all kinds including the single-use variety, citizens too are happily using them, and later throwing them in drains and natural streams of the city. The voice of the Assam State Pollution Control Board is also not very loud. It is a fact that immediately after the Central Pollution Control Board had issued its directions in February this year, the Assam cabinet had approved a Comprehensive Action Plan to eliminate all single-use plastics. A list of items was also issued for the proposed ban. These included ear-buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, thermocol used for decoration, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery like forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packaging films around sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 microns.