The government will begin charting a plan to implement the NGT’s order. Archive
Responding to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags less than 50 microns, the Delhi government said the “departments concerned would begin charting a plan” for the same, while specifying that enforcement lay with the municipal corporations. Traders, however, have raised issues ranging from “alternatives to plastic” to implementation of the order.
A senior government official said, “The problem, in the past, has been of enforcement. That will have to carried out by the municipal corporations. But we will be charting out the plan to ensure that the tribunal’s orders are followed.”
Meanwhile, senior officials of the environment department maintained that they were yet to see the order. An official said, “Once we have studied the order, we will have a clearer picture on what needs to be done.”
Traders, meanwhile, said the move will hit owners of kirana stores. Radhe Shyam Gupta, President, Vikas Marg Traders’ Association, said, “It’s an important order but where is the alternative to plastic bags? The alternative has to be cheap and easily available for everyone. Shopkeepers who are well-off will manage but the real sufferer will be the kirana store owners because they can only afford polythene.”
Vinod Sharma, a trader at Chandni Chowk, said, “This order is going to be tough to implement — both for the government and the traders. As merchants of cloth, we need to wrap our products in something that is dust- and waterproof. Paper doesn’t help in this case, and the government hasn’t introduced a better alternative.”
Others raised issues of implementation. Gian Prakash Gupta, President, Paper Merchants’ Association, Chawri Bazaar, said, “Such orders have been passed several times but the implementation has always been poor. The government often lacks the will power. However, as traders of paper, we welcome this move wholeheartedly… sale of paper will increase as it’s the alternative.”
Sanjiv Mehra, President, Khan Market Traders’ Association, said, “The government also needs to enforce that consumers bring cloth bags to shops. They shouldn’t come down heavily just on us. Also, a market like Khan Market can survive without polythene bags as there are very few kirana stores.” Government sources, meanwhile, said they are actively looking at alternatives to plastic, including jute bags.
