HYDERABAD: Despite a ban on the manufacturing of plastic bags less than 50 microns in thickness, the usage of such plastic bags continues to be rampant across the city. Claiming that the ban is ineffective in the State, the officials from the Telangana Pollution Control Board says that this low-value plastic is still available in the city as it is transported to Telangana from the neighbouring states without such a ban.
Currently, the ban on plastic in the state is limited to manufacturing and use of plastic carry bags measuring below 50 microns. The ban is in accordance with the 2016 plastic waste management rules of the Central government.
According to the guidelines of the plastic waste management, TSPCB and local body authorities can take action against the manufacturers who are producing plastic bags that are less than 50 microns thick. Despite these guidelines, the officials have failed to regulate the use of plastic in the city.
Claiming that it is impossible to completely end the use of low-quality plastic bags, the TSPCB senior environmentalist D Narendra said, “There is a high demand for such plastic bags as they are inexpensive. So even if they are not manufactured in the state they are transported from neighbouring states and we cannot stop it.”
Talking about a solution to the menace, he said, “Only a nation-wide ban on the manufacturing and use of single use-plastic can curb its use. Banning in one part of the country is not enough.”
As of now eighteen states and UTs have banned plastic bags regardless of the thickness of the plastic. Telangana is one of the few states where such a ban is not in place yet.