Polythene ban enforcement fizzles out

Despite the High Court banning polythene and the Chief Minister stressing on strict enforcement of the ban, the use of the banned items has continued in the provisional State Capital Dehradun. The enforcement of the ban has remained limited largely to official claims.

In June, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat gave strict directions to strictly enforce the ban on polythene from July 31 onward. In accordance with this, no major steps has been taken by authorities even though the ban is officialy in place even now.

Speaking about it, head of an activist group Naveen Kumar said, “According to the direction given by the court the ban is applicable on polythene bags, disposable items like cups and packing materials. Working with the Government authorities like the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun and District Magistrate we have together tried to educate and make the people aware many times about these facts.”

He further said, “We have started the operation of a vehicle similar to the garbage collector that work to collect the plastic waste and e-waste. It is working in the city free of cost. The plastic waste like bottles, boxes, and others items get collected and are then recycled. It is doing well so far.”

Regarding the polythene ban he said, “The State Government plans to strictly enforce the ban from July 31 onward. I think extending the date for strictly enforcing the ban on polythene is a problem. The more the authorities defer the strict enforcement of the ban, the more lightly the public will take the ban and government orders. Secondly, banning the manufacture of polythene bags, officials should work to stop the producers and sellers of the polythene bags. If manufacturing will stop then supply will automatically come to an end. Thirdly, the city has different check posts where the banned items being brought into the city should be checked and prevented from being brought here.

Further, the Government should also work on providing an alternative to the public used to going for the polythene bags for shopping and other purposes. We will further work to educate people more about the harmful effect of polythene garbage.

Meanwhile, the Dehradun municipal commissioner Vijay Kumar Jogdande said, “The anti-polythene drive has been going on regularly in the city. The officers concerned are giving daily reports on the drive. About Rs 5,00,000 has been collected in fine and 200 people were penalised by the MCD for violating the ban on polythene. We will continue to conduct the drive regularly,” he said. 

When told about the slow progress and limited effect of the drive in ensuring effective enforcement of the ban, the municipal commissioner said that the MCD will soon hold workshops with various groups to raise public awareness about the ban.