RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the State Government and the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board to launch an immediate statewide cleanliness drive to eliminate plastic waste from public spaces.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal observed that although enforcement measures were being undertaken, “much more is required to be done at the ground level” to tackle the growing environmental problem.
The court ordered authorities to conduct a comprehensive plastic waste removal drive covering roads, market areas, drains, water bodies, bus stands and railway stations across the state. It stressed that public participation was essential, remarking that indiscriminate dumping of plastic reflected a “serious lack of civic sense”.
The directions came during the hearing of a PIL filed by Nitin Singhvi. Counsel for the petitioner argued that the current enforcement drive mainly targeted small vendors and amounted to an “eyewash”, while authorities had failed to trace the actual manufacturers and suppliers of banned plastic products.
Taking note of the submissions, the court directed the state to identify manufacturers, transporters and suppliers of single-use plastic and initiate strict legal action against them.
Authorities were also asked to trace the source of the inflow of such plastic into the state.
In an affidavit filed earlier, the Chief Secretary informed the court that since the nationwide ban on single-use plastic came into force on July 1, 2022, the state had seized 9,216 kg of plastic, conducted 16,497 inspections across 194 urban local bodies and collected fines amounting to Rs 59.75 lakh.
Despite these measures, the bench noted that plastic waste continued to litter roads, open spaces and water bodies, posing serious risks to public health and animal life.
The state government has now been directed to submit a fresh status report on compliance with the court’s directions by July 8, 2026.
