The most desirable extinction of polythene bags from Jammu and Kashmir is on its way out, thanks to govt., the judiciary, environmentalists and NGO's. Had there been any living organism facing such an extinction the govt., scientists and NGO's would have definitely come forward to save that organism from extinction with the spirit of conservation of biodiversity. But the dawning of realization on the part of govt. about the nuisance value of polythene carry bags and their far reaching implication of eco-degradation with the use of polythene bags has been evident with the banning of polythene bags vide SRO 182- dated 18th June 2008. A public notice issued by the state pollution control board which states that "the sale/stocking/storage/transportation and use of polythene bags by any individual will attract legal penalty with imprisonment to an extent of one month or fine to the tune of Rs500 or both along with seizure of confiscation as warranted under Jammu and Kashmir non-biodegradable material (M, H & D) ACT 2007".
Polyethylene better known as Polythene was discovered in 1933 and the experiment that led to its discovery was conducted where in a mixture of ethylene and benzaldehyde was heated to Celsius 170 degrees, the pressure was raised to 1700 atmosphere and the substance got combined together and formed a polymer of ethylene.
Polythene due to its ease of use, hardness, light weight, water proof nature and low cost has found a wide applicability in modern society, used for packing, storing and as carry bags .It is a non biodegradable in nature as it is not degraded easily and will take hundereds of years to degrade .It is a thermoplastic material which when heated gets softened due to weakening of intermolecular forces and melts, on cooling it solidifies again. Prior to imposition of ban on their use in Jammu and Kashmir the polythene bags were found in and around houses, in the waterways including stagnant waters located or flowing through residential areas, forming a good percentage of municipal waste and also found at picnic spots. People used to carry polythene bags for different purposes like carrying clothes, vegetables, books,and other eatables even milk was carried in polythene bags. Black polythene bag was preferred so that the things carried therein are not identified by others, least knowing that this colour was for more harmful. People used to go to market empty handed and returned home with a number of polythene bags containing shopping goods. Polythene bags have not even spared the Mughal road, Noori chamb, chatta pani, peer ki gali etc. spots on this otherwise virgin road, were ecologically invaded by the holiday makers, domestic tourists on their first visit in order to have glimpses of this road.
According to a survey conducted earlier about 7tons of polythene bags were used per day in Jammu and there were about 500 tons of polythene stored with various manufacturers. The industry wasworth hundred Crores in the state and around 20 crores in Jammu alone. Polythene bags have already been banned in more than 20 states and efforts are on to ban them in rest of states. we can also rid our state of polythene bags by joining hands with government, pollution control board and municipal corporation in order to achieve the goal of ban on polythene bags .Recently volunteers of national youth project under the aegis of Gandhian peace foundation in collaboration with Srinagar municipal corporation jointly removed polythene from world famous Dal lake of Kashmir. The volunteers were on an eight day mission to initiate community programme for clearing summer capital water bodies from the menace of polythene. The youth had arrived here from all parts of India collected heaps of garbage and polythene and disposed them off through Srinagar municipal corporation. The local people including morning walkers were inspired by cleaning drive of volunteers also joined them and took part in the cleaning derive. Effects of polythene bags. The knowledge about the hazards caused by polythene bags particularly to the environment is quite high among the people but the knowledge of their effects on health of humans appears to be little understood. Some of the harmful effects of polythene bags are as under 1, Polythene bags have harmful effects on soil,water,and air.The international research institute(IRS) found that the polythene bags by preventing sunlight exposure of soil destroy the beneficial bacteria causing loss of fertility. 2, Burning of polythene bags produce dioxins and furan which are mutagenic and carcinogenic (cancer causing) 3, After articles contained in the polythene bags, are used they are thrown away. Being light in weight, they are taken away by winds and reach drains and cause blockage in drainage/sewage system of cities causing water logging, germination of bacterial and water born diseases and spread of mosquito. 4, Polythene bags that are red or yellow bright incolour have toxic chemicals like lead and cadmium and the same colour gets leached off and affects the food stuffs kept in them. 5, In a national seminar on protection and preservation of animals it was reported that about 60% of stray cows die due to consumption of polythene bags. The ingested polythene disrupts the process of fermentation and mixing of contents that lead to indigestion. It also obstructs the digestive tract, if not removed by operation it can prove fatal. Although
Polythene bags- the menace must go...
govt. is trying hard to get rid of this non-biodegradable product through state pollution control board, Municipal corporation but success can be achieved only when every citizen also comes forward in the campaign against polythene bags. The following suggestions can be taken in to consideration while fighting this non-biodegradable product.
1, All educational institutions should have a checking squad at the entry point in order to see if any polythene bags are taken by the students for carrying books orany Other articles .Besides caution boards showing "polythene bags are banned" should be erected within the institutions. Apart from this awareness programme should be launched in educational institutions that should include symposium on the topic "ill effects of polythene bags" Moreover guest lectures and rallies should also be organized.
2, Awareness programmes should be launched at tehsil level for general public, fruit sellers, vendors, vegetable sellers and sweet shop owners etc. where members drawn from pollution control board and municipal corporations should make public aware about the ill effects of polythene not only on human beings but also on the soil which results in reduced crop production.
3 , Entry points to famous tourist spots should also have a checking squad to prevent the use of polythene by domestic or foreign tourists
4, Awareness programmes should be launched through electronic and print media so that the people living in the remotest areas of the state can know about the ill effects of polythene bags.
5, Environment friendly bags should be used which are bio- degradable as an alternative to polythene bags. Recently an awareness programme was launched by the students of institute of fashion designing where students made bags out of news paper, jute and even out of bags used for rice and flour and distributed them among the customers.
6, checking squad needs to be deployed at public places like airport, railway stations, bus stands and hospitals to enforce the ban on the use of polythene bags. Efforts of speak India environmental forum(SIEF)deserve all appreciation as the forum has setup a polythene check point at Lakhanpur in order to exchange polythene bags of the Amarnath pilgrims by jute bags.
7, Two pronged strategy needs to be adopted by government,(a) , to ensure the availability of the bio-degradable bags in place of polythene bags for use by the people, the step that has well been initiated by the state government through the establishment
of a manufacturing unit that will produce about 900 metric tons of bio-plastic bags in one year and (b) to rehabilitate the manufacturers of polythene bags by encouraging them to switch over to the production of bio-degradable bags. Thus the need of hour is to say goodby to polythene carry bags and instead to shift to environment friendly bags so as to save the environment from this menace. |