The Bihar government has told Patna High Court on Monday that the state is going to ban all kinds of polythene in urban areas from October 25 and in rural areas from November 25. The notifications will be issued shortly after making the requisite rules, assured the Advocate-general Lalit Kishor to the court who had appeared on behalf of the state government.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had hinted that the government was likely to ban polythene bags of thickness of below 50 microns. However, now the government is banning polythene bags of all kinds irrespective of its thickness. This decision was taken after collecting feedbacks from people. According to Kishor, the polythene manufacturers will be given time to destroy their products to make the ban effective.
The high court division bench of Chief Justice Mukesh R. Shah and Justice Ashutosh Kumar had asked the state government on September 24, “when it would issue the notification banning the use of polythene bags”.
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As per a draft notification issued by the government earlier, no one in Bihar will sell, distribute or store any kind of plastic bag to keep or dispense edible or non-edible goods under the jurisdiction of all municipal corporations, municipal councils, and Nagar Panchayats. The government was earlier going to ban polythene use in the state from September 24. Principal Secretary of the urban development department Chaitanya Prasad had, however, told the court it will take 60 days’ time to completely ban polythene.
The Patna High Court also asked the state government to use media for creating awareness on the ban and on the harm of using plastic to the environment on September 24.
