Uttar Pradesh government issues order on plastic ban; prohibition to come into effect from July 15

Weeks after the Maharashtra government imposed a state-wide ban on a wide range of plastic items, the Yogi Adityanath government on Friday issued an order to prohibit the use of plastic in Uttar Pradesh. The ban will come into effect from July 15 in the state.

"Uttar Pradesh government has issued an order to ban the use of plastic in the state from 15th July," the news agency ANI reported.

On being asked about government's decision to ban plastic, UP minister Shrikant Sharma said, "Our rivers are getting heavily polluted due to plastic waste and our religious cities are the most affected as a lot of devotees, who come there, leave the plastic waste behind after bhandaras".

#UttarPradesh government has issued an order to ban use of plastic in the state from 15th July pic.twitter.com/7RXO8JZfZv

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 6, 2018

In 2016, a similar prohibition was enforced in Uttar Pradesh but it failed to show signs of success. 'Lack of alternatives' was one of the key reasons behind the failure.

Read | Maharashtra plastic ban comes into effect from today; Rs 25,000 fine, three months jail for offenders

As per the earlier reports, the industrial cities like Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad witness usage of polythene bags less than 40 microns despite the 2016 ban in the state. At least 10% of all litter from these cities constitutes plastic, which amounts to around 80-90 tonnes per day.

The district administrations in Uttar Pradesh, however, had claimed that necessary steps were taken to curb usage and productions of plastic bags.

While a fine of Rs 5,000 was made mandatory for offenders, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board also initiated actions to stop the cross-border transfer of plastic items.