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Ln Vijaya Bhaskar Chowdary Medepudi's Blogs >> JAGISA PAPER BAGS Sujjest the needy people to make plastic bags a source of income and help to reduce the pollution - Reg

Several states such as Maharastra, Dehli, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himanchal Pradesh, Goa , West Bengal etc. banned the use of plastic bags. Mumbai's drainage choking with accumulated plastics waste, making the floods unmanageable, is an old story. The Environment Ministry has banned manufacture and use of plastic carry bags of less than 20 microns. The ministry has also asked State Governments to register all plastics manufacturing units, so that these can be regulated. However, the implementation of the order has been tardy, evident from the large number of polythene bags strewn in every major town and city. The alternative to these plastic bags are paper bags, jute bags and cloth bags. Paper, Jute and Cloth are eco-friendly. Jute bags are most suitable substitute than paper or clothe and cheaper than cloth and reusable. Though paper bags are cheaper than jute bags, but they are less durable. The Rajasthan Government has put a ban to use plastic bags for food stuffs. Grocery stores should offer the option of paper or plastic carry bags. Besides, large bins should be kept outside the stores to collect used plastic bags. Malls are the best places to easily promote paper, jute, even non-woven cloth bags and other materials which are biodegradable. The main reason of plastic bag pollution is that people think that the poly-bag comes free. Shop-keepers blindly hand out polythene bags, even if you buy just a tube of toothpaste or a pencil, little caring that the bag will be in the dustbin after some time. The shopkeepers should include the cost of poly bags in the bill, along with other billed products. People will then finally take some steps to reduce the dependence on polythene and try and reuse them or carry cloth bags. The Government will be able to generate extra revenue through polythene tax and the environment will be less polluted with polythene carry bags.
Use of non-degradable plastic as the carry bags has been banned from time to time by the Dibrugrah ( Assam ) district administration. But since not much was done to ensure people did not use polythene, the “ban” would invariably die a natural death. This time, the Dibrugarh Municipal Board has decided to take things into its hands and do everything it takes to banish polythene from the town. As a first step, the civic body will deploy 20 ‘Homeguards’ to keep an eye on shopkeepers and businessmen who have not been heeding the ban on the use of polythene carry bags. And the penalty is not on the shopkeepers alone. If the neighbourhood grocer packs the month’s stock into a polythene bag and the customer “innocently” carries it home, chances are both the customer and the grocer will be penalized (income to Municipality) as per new order issued by the authorities. “We have been forced to take such stringent steps, as it seems that a section of these unscrupulous businessmen have taken the appeals issued by the municipal board as just a formality. We will impose heavy penalty on all those who are still using polythene carry bags,” said Sri Bitul Talukdar, the vice-chairman of the civic body.

Plastic, being non bio-degradable, is a major source of environmental pollution. Besides, they clog the drains causing artificial floods during the monsoon season. The plastic weaving concept is based on the fact that plastic bags which are thin and flimsy (be it 20 microns or less) have an average life time of 2 to 3 hours after which they are discarded. They end up in gutters, dumpsites or on mountain sides and even in the stomachs of animals; they are responsible for clogging, choking, flooding, landslides, death and destruction. Instead, if they are collected, even from roads, they can be washed, cleaned, dried, cut into strips and woven into the basic plastic textile fabric, which can then be stitched into various products like mats, folders, hand bags and purses. In this manner, both the plastic and paper waste becomes more manageable with income to SHGs and less destructive. Today, the concept has been taken up by many women's self-help groups who gather raw material either by door to door collection or by buying it from rag pickers. This provides them livelihood while taking the plastic carry bags away from the environment.
B. RAMAKRISHNA REDDY

STATE BANK OF HYDERABAD

SHANTINAGAR, HYD-28

Cell: 98482 10573

Email : ramakrishnareddy.bollavaram@sbhyd.co.in