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Environment

Sheila Govt. firm on plastic bag ban

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The Hindu 12.07.2009

Sheila Govt. firm on plastic bag ban

Staff Reporter

Challans issued against 10 shop owners in Rajouri Garden

 


To intensify drive to ‘clean-out’ plastic bags

Action against manufacturers soon


NEW DELHI: Days after Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh spoke against the ban on plastic bags, the Delhi Government has taken a strong stand supporting the ban and has decided to intensify its drive to ‘clean-out’ plastic bags from the city.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and attended by officials of the Delhi Government and civic agencies on Saturday.

“The change over to jute, cloth and recycled paper bags has to happen and we have given ample time to the people to get used to the idea. It is now time that we get serious and we have decided to intensify the campaign against the use of plastic in the city. We have also decided to put pressure on plastic bag manufacturing units to adhere to norms and also look at recycling plastic. Departments have been asked to involve educational institutions in creating awareness against plastic bags,” said Ms. Dikshit.

She added that instructions have also been issued to Environment Department and civic agencies to intensify their drive to enforce the ban on plastic bags.

“We are aware of the fact that there are several small illegal plastic bag manufacturing units operating in the city that don’t adhere to the norms. We will be taking action against these industries. The idea is not to take away anybody’s source of income but to tell them that the ban is for the larger good in the long run and they need to be part of this makeover. My Government is determined to enforce the ban,” she added.

Meanwhile, nearly six months after the ban on the use of plastic was brought in, the Delhi Government on Friday imposed challans for the first time for violating the ban. The challans were issued against 10 shop owners in a few malls in Rajouri Garden of West Delhi. If proved guilty, the violators can face fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh or five years imprisonment as per notification issued by the Delhi Government in January following a High Court order.

A senior official with the Delhi Pollution Control Board said: “We have challaned 10 people on Friday for violating the ban and hope that the message reaches everyone that we are serious about enforcing the ban.”

The Delhi Government had banned the use of plastic bags in all markets, hotels, restaurants besides other commercial establishments in January this year.

The gazette notification allows the use of plastic bags of 40 microns thickness or more. However, the Government had said that even this would be discouraged.

Last Updated on Sunday, 12 July 2009 11:54
 

'Total ban on plastic bags bad idea'

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Source : The Times of India Date : 09.07.2009
'Total ban on plastic bags bad idea'
NEW DELHI: The government made it clear that it is not in favour of a blanket ban on using plastic bags while it is working on use of biodegradable plastic as colouring elements like dyes are a health hazard and
thin bags and material can severely jam up sewage systems.

Minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh told Lok Sabha on Wednesday that while reducing plastics was necessary, the material had been promoted initially to save paper and trees. He sought to argue that if municipalities made a better effort to manage their solid waste
, the plastic problem would reduce considerably.

The government, he said, was working on use of biodegardable plastic as reverting to paper bags could be even more hazardous to the environment. People had switched to use of plastic rather than paper the world over some 20 years ago to slow down deforestation.

"Plastic itself is a chemically inert substance, used worldwide for packaging and is not per-se hazardous to health and environment.
Recycling of plastic, if carried out as per approved procedures and guidelines, may not be an environmental or health hazard," Ramesh said, assuring the House that the government would have a stringent monitoring mechanism in place to ensure that the right kind of re-cycleable plastic is used.
In his response, Ramesh clarified that it was in the wake of the failure of civic bodies to collect and dispose waste that various states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Delhi had resorted to banning use of plastic bags. The government, he said, had notified Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 (amended in 2003) to regulate the use and manufacture of plastic carry bags, containers and recycling of plastic wastes.

"We are moving towards thicker and bio-degradable bags. Bio-degradable is at a nascent stage... some establishments have started using it," the minister said. On the recycling of plastic, he said it would be undertaken in accordance with specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). He also advocated use of jute bags as another alternative to paper bags, as jute was an eco-friendly material. The minister said the government had undertaken a project for conservation of Dal Lake in Srinagar which is expected to be completed in the next three years.
 

The Urban Jungle

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The New Indian Express 08.07.2009

The Urban Jungle


KOCHI: As my skin makes contact with the waves of humidity, beads of sweat surface on the small of my back. The presence of CREATURES some distance ahead can be sensed in the disturbance of dust and the warm, angry breeze unmistakably created by their oscillations. The thought of colliding with these insurmountable beings surely makes one realise one’s naked mortality. Taking the firm hand of my guide, I scale the chasm separating two remote points of safety and cross the territory of the greater beasts that threaten to trample me underfoot.

No, I refer not to the chaos in the heart of a deep African rainforest but rather to the task of crossing a road in the hubbub of Cochin. To one unaccustomed to the hyper-urbanisation of her native city, the metallic whine of engines and the serenade of bleeping, blaring horns that rush past are comparable to the whine of insects in the wilderness and the simian CORRESPONDENCE of hollers and yowls.

The sounds of oncoming cars are joined by their sisters—rickshaws and motorcycles—with such an accompaniment of clatters, jingles, and beeps that one might muse that melodies are created from the cacophony of sounds.

Contrasted with this commotion, San Jose, California — where I now live — is a place of tranquility, even boredom. There, the task of crossing a road is mundane; unexcitingly simple. In Cochin, gone are the conventions of American road crossing with daintily marked pedestrian passes and well-obeyed stop signs. Gone are the conveniences of carpool lanes that offer quicker passage to vehicles with multiple passengers aboard; bypasses away from congested roadways. To say nothing of the pesky littering fines that prevent one from discarding unwanted edibles out the window.

Who needs such things, really? If one gives some thought to the matter crossing roads in India, let alone driving on them, is a character-building experience in itself. Every crossing can be remarkably adventurous, requiring fortitude, agility, even a certain measure of self-esteem— especially during the monsoon months.

While the sheer amplitude of the traffic flow alarms me, I am somewhat surprised by the casual indifference to this aspect of road crossing in fellow pedestrians.

My cousins are coloured more by annoyance than anxiety when their churidars and trousers get flecked with mud streaks splashed by playful, well-meaning automobiles.

Crossing requires certain skills, I have learned.

It is akin to the game of hopscotch; only, the primary objective is to avoid being knocked down by rogue buses, while darting through crevices between cars and avoiding puddles and trash like the wind.

Yet while I may have a learned a thing or two about patience and other virtues from road crossing, the drivers of Cochin probably come closer to achieving enlightenment, perhaps surpassing Siddhartha Gautama himself.

One must consider the incredible capacity for patience they must possess to meander through the serpentine river of cars, navigating a lunar landscape ridden with crater-like potholes exposed b y the mighty monsoon rains.

The flow of cars never ebbs here, necessitating drivers and pedestrians alike to navigate on intuition.

Riding these roads holds a certain bumpy anticipation, as often felt during the upward climb on a roller coaster. Along with the shop-lined streets and the thunderous rainfall, crossing roads has become a hallmark of my summer vacations spent in Cochin.

(The author is a student of Archbishop Mitty High School, San Jose, California)

kochi@epmltd.com

 


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