A store in Dimapur seen stocking products in plastic bags. (Morung Photo)
Initial enthusiasm to support single use plastic ban has waned with traders and the public going back to old ways
Kanili Kiho
Dimapur | March 1
Following up on the Central Government’s directive to start curbing single-use plastic in their respective States in 2019, the Nagaland State Government in that same year had banned single-use plastic in the State on September 18.
17 months on, The Morung Express took to the streets of Dimapur to check on the efficacy of the seemingly bold move. While the general populace were caught unaware, most of the traders and business people had gone back to their old ways – using polythene or plastic bags.
A retailer explained his reason for going back to using polythene bags with the banned item now made available in the market ‘aplenty.’
“Everyone is using it now. Besides, this pandemic has also made it hard to even afford any alternatives to plastic bags,” he added.
From departmental stores to supermarkets, the use of polythene bags has made a comeback. The stickers 'Bring your own bag' pasted on the front doors last year have been replaced with 'No mask, no entry' in almost every store this time.
It may be mentioned that The Morung Express on February 2020 had reported on private ventures promising eco-friendly alternatives to the traditional plastic bags.
When the proprietor of KL Enterprise, Lilian K Sema was contacted for an update, she said that she had discontinued her venture, “since there was no check on plastic use.” She added that cheaper alternatives have come up, which are not necessarily eco-friendly.
A staff at a cloth store in New Market, Dimapur informed that the store uses their own brand of plastic bags, which till now has been off the radar from inspection. While another trader welcomed the ban, he opined that without a conscious effort to find eco-friendly alternatives, mere checking on single-use plastic would only go round in circles.
Deputy Commissioner (DC), Dimapur Rajesh Soundararajan, who is the Head of the District Task Force (DTF) stated that the team will soon start conducting regular checks for this year. He assured of supporting new ventures on eco-friendly alternatives, while adding that since his taking over charge, the office has not received any such proposal.
The DC also informed that his office is making efforts to make its premises free of single-use plastic by avoiding packaged dinking water bottles and plastic cups.
Single-use plastic in simple definition is a plastic which is used once and thrown away. Some of the most common single-use plastic items are polythene carry bags, plastic drinking bottles, food wrappers, plastic sachets, plastic wrappers, straws, cups, cutlery etc.
