Nagpur: The Maharashtra government has informed the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Thursday that it had banned sale and purchase of nylon manja in the state as per National Green Tribunal (NGT) directives.
An affidavit filed by environment and climate change department principal secretary Manisha Patankar-Mhaiskar informed that steps in this regard were immediately taken after NGT’s orders of January 21 last year.
She informed that for effective implementation of NGT’s orders, letters were issued by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to concerned departments to act against manja sellers. Even at Mantralaya level, similar directives were issued to all police commissionerates and superintendents to constitute a task force and prohibit sale of the deadly nylon thread that had claimed several lives over the years.
The secretary further informed that the government was making all out efforts to prohibit sale and purchase of Chinese manja.
When the HC asked her why the sale was still continuing and lives were still lost despite government’s efforts, she sought three weeks to reply on affidavit.
The HC was hearing a suo motu PIL based on TOI and other media reports on deaths of 23-year-old engineering student Pranay Thakre and 22-year-old Saurabh Patankar this year after their throats were slit by the deadly strings over roads.
In last hearing, the HC had asked the government to inform on compliance of NGT’s directives in this regard. Based on NGT orders, environment department secretary Satish Gavai had issued a notification to ban its sale on June 18, 2017.