Amid ban, single-use plastic thrives in Kangra

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, March 31

Despite the fact that there is a complete ban imposed on single-use plastic bags in the state, the sight of such bags littered by the roadside and in nullahs greets those travelling on the roads of Una and Kangra districts.

Govt efforts fail to find support

• The government had brought a policy banning single-use plastic in the state.
• Under the policy, various officials were authorised to penalise persons for using single-use plastic products.
• Besides, a policy was adopted for use of plastic waste in the construction of roads.
• However, both these policies have not been implemented at the ground level.

In Una, heaps of single-use plastic bags can be spotted at the city’s entrance. The situation is no different in Kangra, where the use these products is commonplace despite the ban.

The government had brought a policy banning single-use plastic in the state. Under the policy, various officials were authorised to penalise persons for using single-use plastic products.

Besides, a policy was adopted for the use of plastic waste in the construction of roads. However, both these policies have not been implemented at the ground level.

Solid waste management has become a big problem in Kangra. Though there are about two municipal corporations and about 12 municipal councils in the district, hardly any of these urban bodies have a proper solid waste management plant.

Even the Dharamsala and Palampur municipal corporations — MCs of the highest populated cities in Kangra that receive a large floating population in the form of tourists — do not have proper solid waste management plants. The district administration had made plans for solid waste management plants to be set up in all the development blocks of Kangra. For this, all the block development officers had been instructed to take effective steps during various review meetings. In the last review meeting, held in January 2022, the BDOs presented plans for the establishment of solid waste management plants in their respective areas.

However, it was realised that such plants could be better conceptualised if an exposure visit was organised and the successful implementation of such plants could be demonstrated to all the BDOs.

Pollution Control Board experts were roped in and a delegation of BDOs and other environmental experts made field visits to the biodegradable plant in Kangra and the plastic waste management plant in Jawalaji. According to sources, however, the administration found it difficult to earmark places where solid waste management plants could be set up. In most areas, villagers resisted the setting up of solid waste management plants. Residents of villages located near the solid waste dumping area in Dharamsala have been consistently protesting against the alleged pollution being caused to their water sources due to the dumping of solid waste.

In Palampur, too, villagers protested against the proposal to set up a solid waste dumping site in their vicinity. Since most common land in Kangra district was classified as forest land, the administration found it difficult to locate places for setting up solid waste dumping sites.