E-Paper
Seeking enforcement of ban on plastic carry bags, NGO stages protest in Ludhiana
The protesting members, led by Navneet Bhullar, said the ban on plastic carry bags was notified by the state government in April 2016, but even after six years, the Ludhiana authorities have failed to enforce the ban completely in the city.
Criticising the municipal corporation (MC) and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) authorities for failing to enforce a complete ban on plastic carry bags in the industrial hub of the state, Jalandhar-based NGO Action Group Against Plastic Pollution (AGAPP) staged a protest outside the office of deputy commissioner Surabhi Malik on Friday.
Submitting a memorandum with the DC, the members of the NGO sought her intervention in pushing the MC and PPCB authorities to enforce the ban properly.
The protesting members, led by Navneet Bhullar, said the ban on plastic carry bags was notified by the state government in April 2016, but even after six years, the authorities have failed to enforce the ban completely in the city. “We have also staged protests outside the MC and PPCB offices in the past, but to no avail. While PPCB has to keep a check on manufacturing, the MC has to stop trading and use of the banned carry bag,” they said.
The NGO’s general secretary, advocate Ravinder Arora, said they had also learnt that plastic manufacturers had now started outsourcing the manufacturing work of the banned carry bags to other states like Gujarat, from where they smuggle these into the state.
The NGO members demanded that the DC should direct the authorities to stop illegal transportation of plastic carry bags from other states and stop its use in the city. “The DC assured that strict directions will be issued to the MC and PPCB to enforce the ban. She also appealed to residents to step forward and shun the use of banned carry bags to save the environment,” added Arora.
