Ban on polythene bags
Indians take their cows seriously. With 80 percent of them identifying themselves as Hindus, the sight of the sacred cows, tended to by no less than Lord Krishna, mysteriously dropping dead in the middle of the road thus troubles many. Before 2008, the problem was especially acute in Lucknow, the ancient jewel in the crown of the Mughal Empire that is now the capital of Uttar Pradesh. After a public uproar, the Lucknow metropolitan government decided to investigate.
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Some sick cows were cut open. The vets were shocked to find that every cow brought to the veterinary hospital had anywhere between 30-60 plastic bags in their stomach. They were literally choking on plastic. Since most of these bags were ultra-thin, the bovines apparently took them for parts of fruits and vegetables they contained and happily munched them down. Armed with this evidence from the vets, irate local activists in Lucknow started a campaign to rid the city of plastic bags. The protests in Lucknow subsequently snowballed into a national movement. The result was the 2008 nationwide ban on plastic bags under 20 microns in thickness. Seven years later, it's the turn of Kathmandu Valley to declare a war on plastic.
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tarting Baishak 1, plastic bags under 40 microns have been banned inside Kathmandu Valley; outside it, the bags will have to be at least 30 microns. We support the ban. Most plastic shopping bags we use are non-biodegradable, which means the plastic we throw out will remain unchanged at the enormous garbage dumps at Sisdole for hundreds of years.
The used polythene bags left behind in the valley clog our waterways, pollute our rivers and, and as in Lucknow, result in deaths of stray cattle. But implementing the ban won't be easy—as India is finding out. If someone is seen carrying an old plastic bag, what will the police do? Snatch if off them? And how will they know if a polythene bag is 41 microns instead of the stipulated 40? Capitalizing on similar loopholes, the Indian plastic manufacturers continue to blithely churn out ultra-thin monsters. They understand that it is not easy to wean people off the cheap and convenient plastic.
Even well-intentioned regulations will be hard to enforce if they are impractical. Perhaps one alternative could have been to gradually increase the thickness. But now that the government has decided on a complete ban, implementation will be tricky—but not impossible. Along with advisements urging people to switch to more environmentally-friendly cloth and paper alternatives, there will also have to be enough boots on the ground to enforce the ban. It can be done.
Bangladesh, for instance, has quite successfully implemented its polythene bag ban since 2002. Germany imposes a recycling tax on stores selling them. In the US, different states have different regulations (California bans them outright; Colorado keeps them off limits to big retailers; in New Mexico, the bags have to be over 57 microns). Again, these variations in approach suggest completely banning these urban health hazards is not easy. It's a worthy goal nonetheless, and a healthy one, too, for men and beast alike.
