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also PlanetArk 19 Aug 05 Plastic Bags Banned, Blamed for West India Floods ENN website 25 Aug 05 Indian State Bans Sale, Use of Plastic Bags By Ramola Talwar Badam, Associated Press BOMBAY, India — The government of the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Wednesday banned the manufacture, sale and use of all plastic bags, saying they choked drainage systems during recent monsoon rains. Environmental groups welcomed the ban, but said it wasn't enough. Plastic manufacturers said 100,000 people would lose their jobs. Manufacturers and stores selling plastic bags will be fined 5,000 rupees (US$111; euro92), while individuals using bags face penalties of 1,000 rupees (US$22; euro18), said the state's top elected official, Vilasrao Deshmukh. Deshmukh said the ban was prompted by the indiscriminate use of plastic bags, which blocked sewage and drainage systems during record monsoon rains in July. Flooding and landslides killed more than 1,000 people in the state. The ban is to take effect Sept. 24. Until then, residents of the state can file objections and suggestions, Deshmukh said. Other Indian states have already banned the use of thin plastic bags -- 20 microns or .002 centimeters thick -- used by shoppers. Last month, some prominent Bombay residents, including movie producers, sued the state government for responding slowly to the crisis created by record rains last month that paralyzed India's financial and entertainment capital. Residents blame haphazard planning, bad drainage and poor roads for the flooding and landslides. "The ban is long overdue and very welcome," said Debi Goenka, an environmentalist with the Bombay Environmental Action Group. Bombay is the capital of Maharashtra state. "But to say the flooding was just because of plastic bags is stupid," Goenka said. "This has to be a first step." Environmental groups have demanded preservation of open spaces and regular cleaning of drains and garbage. Arvind Mehta, managing committee member of the All India Plastic Manufacturers Association, said more than 1,000 manufacturing plants would be forced to shut down in the state, putting 100,000 people out of work. "The government is passing the buck. We are being made scapegoats," Mehta said. "The waste management system and people's littering habits should be corrected." PlanetArk 19 Aug 05 Plastic Bags Banned, Blamed for West India Floods MUMBAI - The western Indian state of Maharashtra plans to ban most plastic bags, blaming them for choking drains and causing floods a month ago on Friday that left more than 1,000 people dead. Businesses caught using them would be fined 5,000 rupees ($114), while individuals would have to pay 1,000 rupees. "Gutters choked with plastic bags caused the flooding which led to enormous losses for the state," the chief minister said in a statement. "The media and environmental and citizens' groups demanded that plastic bags be banned, so we are banning them." Bangladesh also banned plastic bags after blaming them for clogged drains and floods there, while a handful of Indian states that rely on tourism have done so to prevent littered bags becoming eyesores. Ireland and Taiwan have slapped taxes on them. Rules on the types of bags to be exempt by Maharasthra -- possibly pouches for milk, oil and water -- will be issued next week. But a group representing more than 1,000 plastic bag makers in the state, generating more than $20 million in annual turnover from 6,000-7,000 tonnes of plastic bags, expressed anger. "They've made plastic bags the scapegoat when it is the corporation's mismanagement that is to blame," said Harpal Singh of the All India Plastics Manufacturers Association, referring to the city body that runs Mumbai, once known as Bombay. While some Indians recycle plastic bags, often as makeshift rain gear, they also end up snagged in trees, floating in ponds and even fluttering in remote Himalayan foothills. Environmentalists say the bags can take up to 1,000 years to disintegrate and pose a threat to marine life, birds and other animals. Some hope record-high crude oil prices might force manufacturers to seek alternatives to petroleum-based plastics. "Paper bags are an option, or we can go back to the cloth bags we used as kids. But when plastic bags are so cheap, no one will be encouraged to use anything else," said Chandra Bhushan at the non-profit Centre for Science and Environment. Australian scientists are considering bioplastics made of sucrose or grain, which can end up on compost heaps. "Even developed countries haven't found a viable, economic alternative yet," said an official at the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology. ($US1 = 43.7 rupees) links Related articles on Singapore: plastic bags More articles on Singapore: general environmental issues |
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