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Plastic ban falls flat at bhandara events
Days before World Environment Day, Lucknow's bhandara events saw rampant single-use plastic use, undermining eco-friendly efforts and generating tons of waste.
Days before the World Environment Day on June 5, the city displayed a flagrant disregard for environmental rules with the rampant use of single-use plastic items by the hundreds of bhandara organisers on Tuesday. Based on the figures provided by the waste collection agencies, it is safe to assume that the city generated several tonnes of banned plastic in just a day.
Despite Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s (LMC’s) efforts to promote eco-friendly practices during the ongoing Bada Mangal festivities, the overt use of plastic cutlery also showcased the authorities’ inefficiency in implementing the rules, a major part of which is also because of their easy availability.
On Tuesday alone, the agencies collected 120 metric tons of surplus waste from 293 registered bhandara events. While the agencies only had the data for this Tuesday, they said a similar amount of waste must have been generated on the last four Bada Mangal days as well. As many as 314 and 376 organisers had registered their events during the festivities held on May 27 and 20, respectively.
The nationwide ban on plastic plates, cups, and other cutlery, which remain commonplace at many bhandara events and lead to streets being littered with non-biodegradable waste, has been in effect since July 2022.
These reporters visited multiple bhandara events organised in the city on the day and witnessed several lacunas in enforcement. Most organisers continued to use the prohibited plastic items, undermining LMC’s ‘zero-waste’ objectives.
While several were found to be using paper plates and bowls to serve food, they served water and juices in plastic cups. Even spoons and bottles offered to devotees were made of plastic. The lack of affordable eco-friendly alternatives was a major reason for this blatant violation, they said.
Despite dustbins installed at many places, devotees were seen littering the streets.
“Plastic cups cost only half as much as their eco-friendly counterparts. It is not affordable for everyone to buy paper cups in thousands,” said Satish Mishra, who had set up a stall at Vibhuti Khand.
“We buy plastic items because they are easily available in the market. If the administration wants to ban them, it should then first ban their production and sale,” said Dinkar Soni, the organiser of a bhandara near Bhootnath market.
Meanwhile, LMC has already notified all bhandara organisers to mandatorily register their events and adhere to zero-waste protocols. These protocols include the installation of separate bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. However, hardly any location was equipped with such separate dustbins.
Surplus garbage
Abhay Ranjan, the regional head of a private firm handling waste collection in five city zones, said garbage generation shot up by 100 MT on the days when bhandara events were organised. “We usually collect 1,400 MT of waste daily. On Tuesdays, this rises to 1,500 metric tons due to bhandara and associated activities,” he noted.
Another company managing waste collection in the other three zones reported the collection of a surplus 15–20 MT of waste on Tuesday. “Fortunately, several shops remained shut, making waste collection slightly easier,” one of its officials added.
“People who don’t inform us [about the events] are either managing waste on their own or dumping them on the roads. Our vehicles collect them later,” said an LMC official.
40% events unregistered
As many as 293 bhandara events were organised on Tuesday, as per official figures. LMC, which only issued an advisory requesting the public to refrain from using single-use plastic on Tuesday after four Bada Mangal days, was yet to launch any enforcement drive to check the use of plastic at these events.
Officials admitted that nearly 40% of bhandara events being organised were unregistered. The registrations were mandated to improve waste collection and management.
LMC environmental engineer Sanjeev Pradhan said: “No special enforcement drive has been carried out during bhandara programmes. We haven’t issued any fines for the violations.”
Pradhan added LMC collected around ₹17 lakh in fines during anti-plastic drives carried out in several zones in this financial year, so far.
LMC chief Gaurav Kumar acknowledged the lapses and said: “I’ve instructed all eight zonal incharges to inform bhandara organisers not to use plastic, and to submit a compliance report by the evening.”
