PATNA: Even as the nationwide ban on single-use plastic products like ear buds, balloons, flags, decorative pieces, cutlery items, thermocol and PVC banners came into effect on Friday as per the government announcement, its impact on the city markets was least visible. Most street vendors and small shopkeepers were found using plastic and thermocol products freely, ignoring the ban.
A fruit seller at Boring Road crossing was seen weighing apples and other fruits in single-use polythene carry bags. When his attention was drawn towards the ban on the use of polythene bags, he said he would use the same until the stock lasts and the product is available in the market. He also blamed the customers for not carrying their own bags made of cloth or jute with them for collecting the purchased items.
A tea vendor in Kankarbagh Colony was serving tea in plastic cups to the customers even though he did have some earthen cups (chukkars) at his stall. He said as the tea served in earthen cup costs Rs 2 more than in plastic cups, most customers who are quite unaware of the health hazards or environmental pollution caused by single-use plastic, insist on plastic cups.
Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) chairman Ashok Kumar Ghosh said the transition from plastic to other eco-friendly alternatives would certainly take some time. He said the state urban development department and the Patna Municipal Corporation have already initiated necessary steps to check the use of plastic products. “Inspection teams have been constituted for the purpose. The BSPCB is also watching the situation and it would decide its future course of action after watching the situation for two to three days,” he said.
He, however, observed that mere legislation would not cut much ice. “The ban will be effective only when the people are made to realize that it is in their own interest and that its use would affect their health in the long run,” Ghosh added.
All e-commerce companies, shopping centres, malls, cinema halls, tourist spots, hospitals, schools and colleges in the state have been asked to stop using the banned plastic products.
According to the regulations, people caught using banned plastic products may be fined anything from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000. Commercial users, on the other hand, will be fined anything from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh besides an imprisonment of up to one year.
