Pollution of Plastic
Arun Banerjee
Supreme Court blames Government for failing to ban plastic bags
The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the Centre and states for not enforcing a ban on the manufacture and use of plastic bags despite a clear order issued three years ago.
The court was furious about the poor management of plastic waste in most states.
It made the observations while expressing serious concern over the death of a large number of cattle that ate plastic bags.
The issue was raised by the NGO Karuna Society for Animals and Nature, which asked the court to direct the Centre and states to strictly enforce the ban on plastic bags.
“The PIL says in some cases 40 to 60 plastic bags were found in the stomach of a dead animal. This is simply shocking. You should be concerned about the pain and sufferings of animals who consume these bags on streets,” the court told lawyers who appeared for various states.
It summoned the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development Ministry of Karnataka for the failure of that government to curb the use of plastic bags and for not having a proper waste disposal mechanism. “Imagine the pain and suffering of animals.
"You sit in AC rooms and say that you have framed regulations. Is there any seriousness on the part of the state governments to implement the rules and laws? How much does it cost to print statute?” the bench observed.
“We know that where there is a law for banning plastic bags and proper processing of plastic waste, there is no proper implementation,” the bench said.
The bench appointed a three-member committee of lawyers to visit different cities of Rajasthan to find out how much they have implemented the law to ban plastic bags.
It said that the court would analyse the performances of other states, and that teams would be sent to other states too.