NEW DELHI: A
dozen cows placidly munch away at
plastic bags at a garbage dump in Sadar Bazar. The scene is emblematic of how the ban on plastic bags in the capital is playing out. At a time when Mumbai is going all out to curb the use of polybags, Delhi appears to have quietly made its peace with the environmental nuisance, with a visit to popular markets revealing a distinct disregard for the ban on bags made of plastic sheets less than 50 microns in thickness imposed by the
National Green Tribunal last
August.
“Anyone wanting to see how effective the ban on plastic bags has been has only to glance at our garbage collection cart,” said Mukesh, a
New Delhi Municipal Council sanitation worker at Babu Market. He then pointed at his trash barrow and revealed, “A large chunk of the waste we pick up daily comprises banned plastic bags like these. There was some reduction last year, but it’s back to normal now.”
Mukesh’s ground report is no state secret. Visit any market and you can see vendors handing over grocery, fruit, vegetables and innumerable other things to buyers in these thin, transparent bags. Most of the bigger outlets such as departmental stalls, malls and stores selling clothes, shoes and consumer products have indeed shifted to non-plastic or thick plastic bags, but micro businesses dole out the flimsy, tough-to-recyle polythene bags with impunity, with little fear about being fined Rs 5,000 for violating the ban.
Mahesh Kumar, owner of a kurta shop, admitted to a resurgence in the use of thin plastic bags, though he felt it wasn’t as widespread as earlier. He explained why the ban was tough to accept. “The alternatives are costly and ruins our operating costs,” Kumar said. “But if they made cheap, nature-friendly bags, why wouldn’t we want to use them?”
A shop owner broke down the costs for TOI. The banned plastic bags cost around Rs 30 for nearly as many pieces. But the 50-micron plastic bags can cost as much as Rs 100. “The thicker plastic bags now in the market meet the
NGT requirements, but are expensive and not many sellers can afford them. It cuts quite a bit into our margins,” said Santosh Singh.
Babu Lal, a vegetable seller in Munirka Market, pleaded that most sellers had no option. “Why doesn’t the government ban their production across India if it actually wants to bring an end to plastic bags? Why are these bags readily available?” questioned Lal. “Why harass poor people like us who are trying to make a decent living?”
In south Delhi’s crowded Sarojini Nagar Market, the failure of the plastic ban is quite apparent. Every shopper seems to be walking around carrying their purchases in those thin and transparent plastic bags. Kamal Kumar, who runs a business in Cental Market at Lajpat Nagar, felt the preoccupation of municipal corporations with other activities, such as pollution and sealing, had allowed plastic to make an unchallenged comeback.
