JUMLA, May 7: With the aim of reducing environmental and health hazards, Chandannath Municipality in Jumla district has banned the use of non-reusable plastic bags.

From now onward, the residents of the municipality will only use bags made of jute and other fabrics. The only municipality in Jumla took this decision to make itself free of plastic, according to Arjun Singh Kathayat, spokesperson for the municipality. "Let's reduce the use of plastic materials as much as possible and create a clean and green place for living," said Kathayat.

The municipality has handed over six quintals of jute and fabric bags to Jumla Chambers of Commerce and Industry for distribution. The local shopkeepers or traders will have to provide those bags to each of their customers who purchase goods from them. The municipality will punish the customers and shopkeepers who will not abide by the decision.

"The growing use of plastic is likely to invite serious health and environmental hazards in the future. Therefore, we have been encouraging people to use jute and fabric bags," Kathayat said, adding, "From now onward, plastic bags will not be found in the district headquarters Khalanga." He urged the locals to support their decision.

Kantika Sejuwal, mayor of the municipality, informed Republica that the decision was taken after evaluating the harms caused by the use of plastic. "We took this decision after we found that plastic is a major cause of environmental pollution here," she said. She further added that the increasing use of plastic does not only pollute the environment but also reduces the productivity of arable land."As we have also given an alternative to the use of plastic, we hope there won't be any problem in the execution of the decision," said Mayor Sejuwal. The municipality will also conduct awareness programs in various wards to make the ban on plastic more effective. The local administration, civil society and political parties have welcomed the decision taken by the municipality.

Earlier, the government had banned the use of plastic in 2015 but the ban could not be effective.

Caption: Kantika Sejuwal, mayor of Chandannath Municipality of Jumla, handing over jute and fabric bags to Jumla Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

 
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