Polythene bags flood city markets

Ranchi: Though the use of polythene bags, irrespective of thickness and colour, has been banned in Jharkhand since 2017, the bags continue to be used in the capital due to the lack of sustained enforcement by the authorities concerned.
The Centre, too, had notified complete phase out of such products from the country by July 2022.
The TOI on Tuesday visited Ratu Chowk, Kucheri, Tiska More, Albert Ekka Chowk, and Upper Bazaar markets and found several roadside vendors, shops, and customers using plastic bags.
A roadside vendor at Albert Ekka Chowk, Talim Khan, was found selling fruits in polythene bags. Talim blamed the customers for the practise. “What can I do when customers demand? They don’t carry bags and force us to provide them with carry bags for the goods that they buy,” he said.
The proprietor of Aamba Handloom in Upper Bazaar, Utkarsh, said, “Customers continue to ask for plastic carry bags since jute and paper bags are expensive and require an additional charge,” adding, “The bags that we use are thicker than 75 microns”, oblivious of the ban on all types of plastic bags across the state.
A ban was made on the production, import, storage, transportation, and sale of plastic carry bags in September 2017. Their use became a punishable offence.
The secretary of non-profit organisation Citizen Foundation, Ganesh Ready, said there is a need for behavioural change among those who purchase plastic bags. “To stop the use of plastics, imports packaged in plastic should also be regularly inspected,” he added.
The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC), which is responsible for the enforcement of the anti-plastic law, cited manpower crunch. Assistant municipal commissioner Kunwar Singh Pahan said, ‘While the RMC frequently conducts public awareness campaigns to generate awareness about the ill effects of the use of polythene, people too should act responsibly. We often conduct raids in markets."