A senior state pollution control board scientist echoed Sarkar. "The plastic is getting us really choked and such days are not far away when life will come to a standstill because of our callous habit of littering plastic. Unfortunately, there has been no campaign against plastic-littering."

A TOI survey revealed that plastic littering is all pervasive. No road, no ground and no waterbody - including Lal Dighi in front of Writers' Buildings, perhaps the most well-kept waterbody of the city, and those at Victoria Memorial - has been able to escape the menace.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is only enforcing a ban on the use of plastic bags below 40 microns in thickness. "But who will prevent plastic tea-cups, gutka or shampoo sachets which are worse polluters? They easily slip through manholes or the concrete filters of the underground drainage system. These elements are no less chokers for drainage pumping sets," said a Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority officer.

Interestingly, however, the Supreme Court has banned the packaging of gutka in plastic sachets. Following the Supreme Court order, the environment ministry had also banned the packaging of gutka products in sachets (Rule 5 of the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, prohibits the use of plastic materials in sachets for storing, packaging or selling gutka, tobacco and pan masala). But the plastic sachets containing tobacco are everywhere in the city and there is no compliance of the central rule.

State environment secretary RPS Kahlon said: "We do not have any legal provision against plastic littering. But eventually, we have to enact a law so that an offender does not get away by throwing plastic bags and sachets. Spot-fines could be introduced to penalize offenders." He admitted that littering is worrisome in the state as it is in other parts of the country. Kahlon said that PCB is suffering from a severe man-power shortage. It is a matter to be handled by municipal bodies, he added.

"I found the mere ban on plastic bags below 40 micron thickness is somewhat untenable. Who will measure whether a particular bag is below 40 micron or not? The city has become a paradise for littering plastic wastes. There is no dearth of rules in our country. Only its effective enforcement can inculcates a habit of proper disposal of plastic waste. Littering is an offence in most of the developed countries, where penalty comes in the form of hefty fines or sustained community services or both by state statutes or city ordinances," said environment activist Subhas Datta.

In India, Meghalaya is stringent against littering. The Goa government is becoming an exception by making littering of plastic at roadsides and beaches a cognizable offence. Chief minister Manohar Parrikar himself announced it. Parrikar told the legislative assembly that the government is mulling to make plastic littering a cognizable offence by December this year and to punish the offender with a severe penalty.

As early as in August, 2002, the government prohibited carrying, use and sale of non-biodegradable PET bottles and plastic carry bags in certain coastal regulation zones in Panaji and neighboring Caranzalem and Dona Paula, while for other beach areas in Goa, the matter would be taken up in consultation with all stakeholders.

Even Indian Plastic Federation officials want stringent enforcement against littering. "Plastic is so popular because of its utilitarian value. If it is disposed of properly, plastic will continue to do good for mankind. But because of its low-cost existence in our life we tend to throw them away, without understanding its consequences. If this continues, the authority will be forced to ban plastic which will turn a huge workforce jobless," said an IPF official. In fact, the Supreme Court threatened to enforce a complete ban on the use of plastic in the interests of animals and the environment.