Ahead of Lohri festival, residents demand strict laws against sale, use of plastic string
A local NGO has demanded amendment to the rules to punish the seller and the user of plastic string, seeking long imprisonment for violators.
A petition would be sent to all MLAs of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. The office-bearers of the local NGO, Voice of Amritsar (VOA), stated that they are preparing a written petition to be sent to all 117 MLAs in Punjab that anyone selling the Chinese string be charged with attempt to murder and sentenced to 7-year imprisonment and fined Rs 15 lakh. Whereas anyone flying kites with plastic string should be imprisoned for three months under non-bailable offence and fined Rs 25,000. We hope a bill will be passed in the next session of the Punjab assembly with all members irrespective of parties supporting it.
Sheenu Gupta, an office bearer, said, “We are holding awareness campaigns against the plastic string. Strong laws and their enforcement are necessary for the success of such drives. We need to set examples for violators. Strict laws and implementation would save many lives.”
The activists claimed that monofilament yarn is being manufactured in Ludhiana for the fishing nets and sports nets. But most of the manufactured yarn is being used for kite flying. The government should also check the sale of monofilament yarn from the manufacturing units. “We have been promoting the traditional kite string as replacement of plastic string but people will not adopt the traditional string till the plastic string is available in the market. Despite frequent seizures, the banned string is still available in the market,” said Gurpreet Singh, a resident.
