PATNA:
Manufacture, sale and use of polythene will be illegal in urban areas of Bihar by the month-end and offenders might face penal action, which includes penalty of up to Rs 5,000.
The Bihar state pollution control board (BSPCB) will have the liberty to invoke the penal provisions under the Environment Protection Act that stipulates fine up to Rs 1 lakh or/and jail term against the violator of the polythene ban notification, to be issued for urban and rural areas separately.
The state government on Monday told the Patna high court that final notification to ban plastic carry bags in urban area would be notified by October 25 and for rural areas it would be notified on November 25.
Earlier on September 24, the court had sought to know from the state government when it intended to notify ban on plastic carry bags in Bihar.
Advocate General Lalit Kishore gave this information to the division bench of chief justice MR Shah and justice Ashutosh Kumar.
The judges disposed of the public interest litigation (PIL) petition, initiated suo motu on the basis of a newspaper report regarding pollution from plastic in the historical Muchalinda Sarovar (lake) on the premises of Mahabodhi Mahavihara, a Unesco world heritage site at Bodh Gaya.
Meanwhile, Surendra Singh, additional secretary in the department of environment forest and climate change, filed an affidavit in compliance of the previous order of the court passed on September 24.
It stated that the final notification for banning carry bags in urban areas has been sent to the department of law for its advice. Once the law department sends its advice, the final notification will go to the cabinet for its approval and once approved the same would be notified by October 25.
The affidavit further added that with respect to rural areas the final notification after the approval of cabinet would be notified before November 25 this year. In the final notification, a period of 60 days shall be given for manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and traders of plastic carry bags , shopkeepers, vendors, hawkers and others to dispose of their stocks within 60 days of its publication in the official gazette.
Presenting the affidavit-cum-reply of environment department, the advocate general said once the notification is issued, there would be complete ban in Bihar on manufacture, sale and use of plastic carry bags. It would be treated as contraband here and 60 days time period would be allowed to destroy the existing stock.The urban development department had filed an affidavit at an earlier date of hearing stating that plastic carry bags were causing “irreparable loss” to the environment and a model draft rules 2018 had been prepared to impose a “blanket ban” on their manufacture, import, storage, transport, sale in the state.
In a separate affidavit, the Bihar State Pollution Control Board had said earlier the draft notification for plastic ban in the entire state had been prepared and sent to the environment and forest department for needful action.
As per the draft law, the ban on plastic carry bags would be notified by the environment and forest department and thereafter enforced by the urban development department in urban areas through municipal bodies whereas in rural areas, it would be implemented by the panchayati raj department through panchayat bodies.
It is pertinent to mention here that the draft rules propose to slap a fine up to Rs 500 on users of plastic carrybags for domestic purpose. The rules also stipulated a fine up to Rs 5,000 for burning of plastic wastes and commercial use of plastic bags.
The urban development and housing department had on August 27 informed the court that it had on August 12 notified the draft law for ban on plastic carry bags irrespective of size and thickness in the urban areas and sought objections, if any, by 30 days.
After perusing the draft law, the judges had then asked why a distinction had been made between urban and rural areas. It had asked the authorities concerned to come out with a law to ban plastic in both urban and rural areas.
Earlier, the court had on July 9, 2018 said it wanted the Bihar government to take some “bold, effective” decisions to make the state plastic free.
A senior officer of the forest department, who was present in the court, said the draft of final notification for urban areas has been approved by the forest minister, Sushil Kumar Modi and would be sent to the cabinet for its nod. “The final notification has been prepared in the light of public objections and stakeholders opinion that poured in till September 13,” said the officer.
He said draft notification banning use of polythene in rural areas has been put on the public domain since September 25 for inviting comments from the stakeholders and common people. The final draft for ban in rural areas will be ready for cabinet nod in the next 30 days.
The urban development department (UDD) has already framed the bylaws for enforcing ban on use and sale of polythene in accordance with provisions of the Bihar municipal act 2007 and forwarded it to the cabinet secretariat department for final approval. “The bylaws stipulate maximum fine upto Rs 5,000 for violation of the norms,” said principal secretary of UDD Chaitanya Prasad.
The panchayati raj department, which has been named as nodal agency along with the district administration to implement the ban in rural areas, has stepped up efforts to frame the related bylaws.
“Strong penal action would be taken against them if they (producers of polybags) were found in their possession after the deadline,” they added.
