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Video Producer: Maaz Hasan
Video Editor: Rahul Sanpui
In order to phase out single-use plastic, the government-imposed ban on the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of identified single-use plastic items came into effect on 1 July 2022.
To see the impact of this ban, I visited Delhi's Azadpur Mandi and it was very surprising for me.
Polythene bags, one of the 19 banned items that were listed by the Central Pollution Control Board, were used normally by both buyers and sellers at the mandi.
On asking, they told me that there isn't a better alternative available to them. While there are alternatives, they are much costlier. For instance, paper bags are usually 2 to 3 times more expensive than the polythene bags.
On the promise of anonymity, vegetable sellers spoke about their reasons for using polythene despite the ban.
Another vegetable seller, who chose to be anonymous, raised the issue of cost and financial viability.
Many small-scale vegetable sellers highlighted that this ban is going to affect them badly as they operate on smaller order quantity.
Everyone I spoke to was in support of the ban, but all of them demand an alternative.
On the other hand, those who were in the business of selling plastic items are facing a real crisis of livelihood. A plastic seller told me, "My shop is on the verge of getting closed. We don't have much. We are just selling paper napkins, plates, etc. For now, I have no alternative. Nothing has come to us. We haven't got anything yet. We are planning to leave this business."
As per the rules of the Central Pollution Control Board, 19 items have been banned. Below is the list:
It is important to note that the government has not decided to suddenly impose the ban. On 15 August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort, first called for a ban on the single-use plastic.
In this situation, the question arises, if plastics under 100 microns are banned, how come transparent water bottles, packaged chips, and milk packets still exist in the market?
As per the experts, things that can be recycled have not been banned by the government. If you carefully see the water bottles, they have a recycle symbol. Even chips packets carry that label.
Now, the question arises: Don't these water bottles and chips packets contribute to pollution? Do they get completely recycled? The question also arises about the motive with which the government has imposed a ban. Will this be successful?
You can write your answers in the comment section of the video.
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