Committee moves NGT over use of banned plastic at govt event

The ‘Jashan-e-Inquilab’ event programme held at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) grounds in Ludhiana on September 28 has landed the state government in trouble, with the Public Action Committee (PAC) approaching the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over the alleged use of prohibited single-use plastic (SUP) during the event.

In a press statement issued on Friday, PAC members Er Kapil Arora and Kuldeep Singh Khaira said evidence, including photographs, submitted to the Tribunal by them showed the use of prohibited plastic items during the programme.

“We have questioned how the government authorities can expect citizens, traders and institutions to comply with environmental laws when same restrictions were allegedly not followed by them at an event organised by the government itself,” the PAC members said.

Other members, including Dr Amandeep Bains and Jaskirat Singh, said the manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single-use plastic items, including specified plastic plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, straws, trays and certain other articles, had been prohibited under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, as amended from time to time. However, all such items were allegedly used during the state-organised function.

The PAC members said the issue became more serious as the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) had itself issued directions to government departments requiring strict compliance with the SUP ban and had specifically urged government offices to minimise plastic waste and replace prohibited SUP items with sustainable alternatives.

Raising concerns over the state government itself allegedly violating the norms, the PAC members questioned the effectiveness and independence of the regulatory mechanism, particularly the role of the PPCB, when prohibited SUP items allegedly continued to be openly available and used across the city and other parts of the state.

The committee alleged that despite repeated directions and enforcement powers available with the PPCB, banned SUP items continued to be manufactured, stocked, sold and used openly, defeating the very purpose of the statutory prohibition.

The PAC has urged the Tribunal to impose environmental compensation (EC) on the state government as well as the PAU under rules framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

The members also requested that the PPCB be directed to submit a comprehensive report, as mandated by directions issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) from time to time under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act in relation to the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.