That stands postponed, but according to a report of the Directorate of Panchayats that was released last week, all 191 village panchayats in the State have, in their gram sabhas, decided to ban plastic of thickness of 50 microns and below. Besides, for strict compliance, enforcement through imposing penalties is regularly been done by the panchayat secretaries. As per the report of the department, there does appear to be no issue with the garbage management at the rural level.
It further says that all the panchayats collect dry waste at the doorstep, and of the 64 panchayats close to municipal jurisdictions, touristic places, and semi urban areas that generate wet waste, 37 panchayats collect wet waste door-to-door, of which 28 send the waste to the Saligao Waste Treatment Plant and the others have set up wet waste disposal facilities. Besides, 12 panchayats have land available to set up facilities for wet waste disposal, and 15 are in the process to identify land and in the process to set up facilities. On reading this, one does begin to wonder whether garbage management and plastic are even a problem in the State. It all appears to have been taken care of excellently, and does not need any additional input from the government or from civil society.
While urban local bodies are struggling to handle the garbage situation that the panchayats are doing so well comes as a mighty surprise. That is why the ground reality may not be as clear as the picture that this report of the panchayat paints. For instance, while panchayats at gram sabhas may have resolved to ban single-use plastics, the panchayat bodies are doing little to implement this. A few panchayat secretaries may be issuing fines to those who do not comply with the law, but these penalties would be scarce. The fact is clear that one-use plastic is still in circulation and it is unlikely that it will stop soon, not unless the government actually takes this seriously.
The decision to stop single-use plastic has to be implemented quickly if Goa wants to keep pace with the rest of the world in the fight against plastic. There have been numerous deadlines announced by which to implement the ban and all these have been postponed. For various reasons the plastic ban does not seem to see the light of day, making this material the biggest polluter in the environment. Goa’s seriousness with dealing with plastic should not be restricted to passing resolutions at the gram sabhas, but ensuring that the markets do not have bags made of this material for sale or to be handed over to the shoppers.
The ban on single-use plastic stands on paper, but yes the use of this plastic has been reduced. More people are carrying their own shopping bags to the market, rather than depending on the vendors to give them plastic bags. More, however, is needed to be done to ensure that the one-time use of plastic is stopped totally. Enforcement of the law is important, and this can be achieved only if the authorities are willing to be strict on the issue. It had been earlier announced that trade in bags below 50 microns would be stopped from July 2017. It didn’t happen at that time, and the deadlines kept getting postponed. Now that there has been a pro-active stance taken by the panchayats, will there be a change in the enforcement?
The importance of banning single-use plastic is because it is not biodegradable and can remain in the environment for decades polluting it. The innocuous plastic bag can remain up to 80 years. There, therefore, is no other option but to ban it permanently, and then enforce the law.
