Plastic Unlimited
the Union government notified the Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999, in September last year. They were supposed to do away with the menace of plastics. But a year down the line, it is evident that the rules have fallen flat. In fact, they may have abetted the growth of plastic trade in India.
The government of Sikkim had banned plastic bags way back in 1998 after the demise of 27 people in a landslide caused by dumped plastic bags. Other states too have come up with their own regulations and rules to restrict or ban the use of plastics and plastic bags. These include Goa and Maharashtra (see box: Goa and Mumbai: choking the bag ) and Himachal Pradesh. In the state of Delhi a bill on the issue has been pending approval from the assembly for quite some time now. Evidently, a plethora of laws and regulations do not go into ensuring a clean environment. Especially when they have been made with a muddled perspective. Ravi Agarwal, director of, Shrishti, a Delhi based non-government organisation ( ngo) says, "The rules are without rationale.'
The Union ministry for environment and forests ( moef) had set up a National Plastic Waste Management Task Force ( npwmtf ) to