India - Plastic bags banned, blamed for Maharashtra floods

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http://in.news./050826/137/5zvmn.html

 

Plastic bags banned, blamed for Maharashtra floods

 

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Maharashtra government plans to ban most plastic bags,

blaming them for choking drains and causing floods a month ago on Friday that

left more than 1,000 people dead.

 

Businesses caught using them would be fined 5,000 rupees, while individuals

would have to pay 1,000 rupees.

 

" Gutters choked with plastic bags caused the flooding which led to enormous

losses for the state, " the chief minister said in a statement. " The media and

environmental and citizens' groups demanded that plastic bags be banned, so we

are banning them. "

 

Bangladesh also banned plastic bags after blaming them for clogged drains and

floods there, while a handful of Indian states that rely on tourism have done so

to prevent littered bags becoming eyesores. Ireland and Taiwan have slapped

taxes on them.

 

Rules on the types of bags to be exempt by Maharasthra -- possibly pouches for

milk, oil and water -- will be issued next week.

 

But a group representing more than 1,000 plastic bag makers in the state,

generating more than $20 million in annual turnover from 6,000-7,000 tonnes of

plastic bags, expressed anger.

 

" They've made plastic bags the scapegoat when it is the corporation's

mismanagement that is to blame, " said Harpal Singh of the All India Plastics

Manufacturers Association, referring to the city body that runs Mumbai.

 

While some Indians recycle plastic bags, often as makeshift rain gear, they also

end up snagged in trees, floating in ponds and even fluttering in remote

Himalayan foothills.

 

Environmentalists say the bags can take up to 1,000 years to disintegrate and

pose a threat to marine life, birds and other animals.

 

Some hope record-high crude oil prices might force manufacturers to seek

alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.

 

" Paper bags are an option, or we can go back to the cloth bags we used as kids.

But when plastic bags are so cheap, no one will be encouraged to use anything

else, " said Chandra Bhushan at the non-profit Centre for Science and

Environment.

 

Australian scientists are considering bioplastics made of sucrose or grain,

which can end up on compost heaps.

 

" Even developed countries haven't found a viable, economic alternative yet, "

said an official at the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology.

 

($1 = 43.7 rupees)