Urban News

While there is a ban on the use or sale of plastic bags in the city — except for the biodegradable plastic bags in certain commercial areas — penalties have been abysmally low so far.

At present, the penalty for using plastic bag is imposed by courts under the Environment Protection Act, which has been a slow process to prevent offences. The move aims to penalise offences immediately and move away from court-based penalties.

The Degradable Plastic Bag and Garbage (Control) Act is likely to register more offences, but attract lesser punishment than that under the Environment Protection Act, which has a maximum penalty of Rs 1 lakh and/or five years in jail.

“We would like to empower officials to award penalities immediately as and when a violation is recorded. The process of going through court-based prosecutions has been slow. We are proposing this amendment so that challans can be issued faster,” a senior official of Environment department said.

The last amendment to the Delhi Degradable Plastic Bag and Garbage Act was made in 2008, when it was decided that first-time offences would invite up to Rs 1,000 fine, and second time penalty Rs 5,000. The government is likely to stand by these penalties for people caught using plastic bags, while those selling them will get harsher punishment.

Till now, 164 violations have been recorded in courts under the Environment Protection Act, a figure which is disproportionate to the huge number of violations observed. Further, violations have been recorded for shopkeepers only.

The proposed amendment will go to the Chief Minister and then to the Cabinet for approval.

In a separate development, a new report by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on measures to be taken for managing solid waste in the country has made a strong case for plastic manufacturers to pay for plastic waste management. The Delhi government had said it would consider the “polluter pays” principle.

Ministry pushes for regulation of plastic bags
The Ministry of Environment and Forests, in a new report, has made a case for regulation of plastic and banned plastic bags. The report calls for Indian standards to be established for structures made from post-consumer plastic. “For instance, PVC-woven sacs, HDPE and other mixed plastics are used to make plastic strapping material often used in airports for strapping baggage. Low quality recycled strapping gives off hydrogen chloride and other hazardous emissions every time the strap is heated. This is also an occupational hazard for those at the baggage screening machines,” the report points out. ENS