Maharashtra Plastic Ban: Minister Plans to Allot Rs 2 Crore for Each District, to Make Cloth Bags as Replacement for Plastic

Mumbai April 17: The Maharashtra state Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam is planning to allot Rs 2 crore for each district, to make cloth bags as replacement for plastic. Minister Kadam said, "We will take a final call on the idea once the suggestions and objections been obtained from all plastic manufactures. The decision will be put before the high power committee headed by me."

Meanwhile, Chief Minster (CM) Devendra Fadnavis on Monday evening held a meeting, and formed another committee of bureaucrats to study the issue pertaining to plastic manufacturers. The new committee  will listen to all suggestions given regarding plastic production, its use and recycling. On the committee are Additional chief secretary to the CM Pravin Pardeshi, Additional Chief Secretary in the Environment Department Satish Gavai, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Sunil Porwal and member secretary of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board(MPCB) P Anbalagan. Along with CM, Environment Minister Kadam and Yuva Sena Chief Aditya Thackeray was also present.

Interestingly, it's the fourth committee constituted by the state government after it imposed plastic ban state wide on March 23, 2018. The two committees came into force immediately after plastic ban, first was under the chairmanship of the Minister for Environment to monitor the implementation of the ban and the second was an Expert Committee to make recommendations for effective implementation of the ban. Then, in the first week of April, Minister Kadam announced a third committee consisting of 10 members from various associations, including government officials to look into the challenges of implementing the ban.

Earlier, in 2005 Maharashtra state prohibited using plastic bags below 40 microns, then the restriction was further put on plastic bags below 50 microns in the year 2014. But nothing had changed. While, now the state imposed a blanket ban on types of plastic bags including thermocol. While small  Poly Ethylene Terephthalate(PET) and PETE bottles with a carrying capacity of less than half a litre, milk pouch has been exempted from the plastic ban. To ensure recycling of milk pouches and PET bottles, which have been exempted from the state-wide plastic ban, the Maharashtra government has decided to levy a refundable charge on such items. That means, consumers will have to pay Rs 50 paise extra on every milk pouch and Re 1 for PET bottle, which includes those of soft drinks, over and above the MRP. This will be refunded when buyers return the bottles or pouches to the retailer.

While the state wide plastic ban decision though brought smile on many faces especially 'Nature Lovers' but at the same time they fear that Government may succumb to the pressure from plastic manufacturers by exempting more items  from the Act’s purview.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 01:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).