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Haryana: Despite ban, use of polythene bags rampant in Haryana, says environment minister
Polythene takes 400 years to decompose, stop using it; blocks 90% sewers, says Haryana environment minister
With the air pollution concerns echoing in the Haryana assembly on Friday, environment, forest and wildlife minister Rao Narbir Singh admitted helplessness over the rampant use of banned polythene bags across the state, urging people to shun them as they take 400 years to decay and release toxic smoke when burned.
The environment minister candidly accepting the inability of the state government to enforce ban on polythene bags is significant as in 2018 while banning single-use water bottles in all government offices in the state, Haryana government had also taken a slew of other environment-friendly decisions, including making Haryana a polythene-free state in six months. Keeping in view the gravity of the matter, in June last year chief minister Nayab Singh Saini had inaugurated cloth bag vending machines under the polythene carry bag-free Gurugram campaign.
“At least 90% cases of blockage in sewers is due to these polythene bags...We must shun using them,” said Singh, who is also industries and commerce minister, while replying to a calling attention notice of Congress MLAs Aditya Surjewala, Shishpal Keharwal, Shalley Chaudhary and Kuldeep Vats.
“I call upon all the members of this House to join hands and let’s deal with air pollution with unity. Let’s not drag politics into this matter. According to experts, if polythene is buried in the ground, it takes about 400 years to decompose. Therefore, we should avoid the use of polythene.”
Congress MLA Surjewala called for strengthening Haryana’s air quality monitoring framework and asked the government to undertake actions for emission controls to prevent further deterioration of air quality.
The minister said the government is serious about air pollution and taking all precautionary measures. He said air pollution is not a political issue and reiterated that “use of polythene should be stopped.”
Expressing concern over the air quality index of some cities including Gurugram remaining poor in winter months, Singh informed the House that the government is taking steps from time to time to control air pollution.
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board closed 480 air polluting industries in 2023 and 2024 and also imposed a fine of ₹35 crore on them. He informed that the government is also making industries aware to bring modern machines which cause minimum air pollution.
The minister informed the House that incidents of stubble burning have continuously decreased in Haryana. The Stubble burning incidents have come down from 12,657 in 2017 to 1,406 in 2024 in paddy season and from 4,747 in 2017 to 3,155 in 2024 in wheat season.
The minister said according to a study, 20% percent air pollution is due to industry, 20% due to vehicles, 35% because of road dust, 10% from agriculture and 6% from other causes. He said with the help of the World Bank, many projects related to air quality improvement will be carried out in Haryana from 2025 to 2030 with financial and technical assistance.
The environment minister said that soon he will hold a meeting to devise plans to deal with air pollution.
