Nagaland’s ‘Policy for Restricting the Use of Plastics in Nagaland’ was published on the Official Gazette on June 17, 2019.
The notification on ‘Total Ban on all Single-Use Plastic in Nagaland’ was to be effective 3 months from the date of publication on the Official Gazette in Nagaland in “public interest and for the manufacturers, stockists, shopkeepers to dispose off their stocks and no financial loss is caused to them.”
The notification was a continuation to State Government’s Notification dated November 29, 2018 and approved by the State Cabinet in its meeting held on June 10, 2019, the Gazette informed.
Going by the notification, ‘Total Ban on all Single-Use Plastic in Nagaland’ is effective in Nagaland since September 17, 2019.
Helpfully, the ‘Single-use plastics’ was defined in the notification as “disposable plastics (use-and-throw items), are commonly used for plastic packaging and include items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These include, among other items, carry bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery.”
To refresh memory, a list of 8 single-use plastic products were given out— All plastic carry bags, with or without handles, irrespective of thickness and size; Plastic cutlery including plates, plastic cups, straws, stirrers etc.; Cutlery and other decorative made of Styrofoam (Thermocol); Polythene; Nylon; 6. Poly-Vinyl-Chlorides (PVC); Poly-Propylene; and Poly-Styrene.
Any individual, institution or commercial establishment were informed to abide with the total ban, and the District Administration or Local Bodies were given the right to “decide and levy penalties against the defaulters in their jurisdiction.”
A District Task Force already constituted in respective Districts shall “strictly monitor and function as Squads for vigilance purpose and ensure imposing of total ban on stocking, distribution, selling and use of all single-use plastics,” the Gazette noted.
Right after the notification, there used to be flurry of activities by the respective District Task Force ‘on total ban of single-use plastics.’
Blame it on COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown, such activities are becoming rarer; the total ban ironically is at a ‘standstill’ in many corners of the State and the usage of single-use plastic is making a comeback.
“Today, the market is flooded with single use plastics… the numerous awareness programmes, workshops and seminars which seem to have gone down the drain,” a report in The Morung Express noted in October. (Amid COVID-19, menace of single use plastic resurfaces, The Morung Express, October 21). In the commercial capital Dimapur, business seems to be usual as before.
This is inopportune for two main reasons. It reaffirmed a recurring theme in the context of governance in Nagaland that rules and regulation, as well as policies, are mostly implemented only on paper. In doing so, it satisfies an old adage that ‘rules are meant to be broken.'
Concurrently, it goes to demonstrate that apart from legal measures, behavioural changes are crucial to implement any law or polices successfully. Such changes would not come about by having ‘clique’ meetings, workshops or selective activities, but wider and consistent awareness campaign.
There are some encouraging trends, however. For instance, in the State Capital, most shops have stopped providing ‘polythene bag;’ In Dimapur’ Chümoukedima market, usage of single use plastic are virtually non-existent. There must be similar instances in other areas and districts. The recent notification by Kiphire Town Council to buy plastics every Saturday is a crucial step.
The world is gradually moving towards undertaking responsible action on the environment in which we have an upper hand than most others. Instead of improving, piling on current status would be proven costly in the future.
