Bihar: The Bihar cabinet decided to ban the production, import, storage, circulation, and usage of single-use plastic. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday.
According to the Bihar Environment and Forest Minister Niraj Kumar Singh, the ban will come into effect after 180 days of the gazette notification. ‘All industrial units and marketing installations would be asked to dispose of their product, mainly of made of thermocol, within the stipulated period and resort to eco-friendly alternatives. A detailed modality to check production and use of thermocol items and other single-use plastic and penalty would be worked out notified soon,’ the Minister said.
The state government had banned the production, circulation, and use of polythene, earlier. However, polythene bags are still in use.
While welcoming the move, Ramapati Kumar, Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Centre for Environment and Energy Development mentioned that the government should create the necessary infrastructure for safe disposal of plastic and launch an awareness drive to curb leakage in the policy. ‘Otherwise, single-use plastic would remain in circulation like polythene despite the ban,’ the officer added.
Post Your Comments