The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has set up a three member committee to conduct weekly searches at premises of the city’s traders and shopkeepers to check whether they were still using polythene carry bags. These were banned in the state from May 1 under provisions of the Punjab Plastic Bags (Manufacture, Usage & Disposal) Control Act, which prohibits manufacture, disposal and usage of polythene bags from virgin plastic of thickness of not less than 40 microns.
PPCB senior environmental engineer Karunesh Gargsaid the indiscriminate use of polythene, which is nonbiodegradable, was causing multiple problems.
“The municipal corporation has been complaining of sewage lines getting choked with polythene. The animal husbandry department also warned that a large number of stray cattle were dying after consuming waste polythene from dumping pits. That is why we decided to set up this committee, which will have two members from the MC and one from the PPCB,” Garg stated.
