Despite ban, use of polythene bags rampant in Varanasi
VARANASI: A person buying vegetables from a cart in the Pahadia area of Varanasi asks for a polythene bag. The vegetable seller declines but has to give in after the customer says he would buy from the next cart. This is a common scene in every market, be it vegetables, food or a general store in Varanasi.
Despite several drives by Varanasi Nagar Nigam (VNN) to keep the use of polythene bags, which are banned, in check their use is rampant in Varanasi. The polythene bags are in turn polluting river Ganga and the environment.
Rajesh Shukla, a Ganga activist, says, “Polythene bags are being used widely by people despite many awareness campaigns. We distributed bags made of cloth among the people at the Ghats and urged them to give up using polythene bags because these are harmful to river Ganga and the environment.”
“Many social workers distributed cloth bags in the markets. However, our efforts failed to bring in any change in the mindset of people. Still, a large number of people go to the market empty-handed and bring eatables, and vegetables in polythene bags,” adds Shukla.
The used polythene bags reach the Ganga and pollute it. Shukla and his team clean one Ghat of Ganga daily. They draw polythene bags and other waste out of the river and put it on the stairs from where Varanasi Nagar Nigam’s sanitation workers collect it and dispose of it.
The polythene bags also flow into drains and choke them. Shukla and his team of social activists coined the slogan ‘the lighter the polythene, the deeper the damage’ to promote its boycott. A few days ago, at the behest of Shukla, the shopkeepers, devotees and priests present at the Ghats took a pledge not to use polythene bags and to make Kashi and Ganga Ghats polythene free.
Social activist Nandlal Master says that polythene bags’ use is increasing day by day. . From a small general store to vending cart owners, everyone keeps polythene bags, because people are not ready to change their mindset. People should go to the market with cloth bags. But they don’t. That is why efforts by VNN and social workers haven’t yielded desired results.
To check on the use of polythene bags with thickness less than 50 microns, Varanasi Nagar Nigam (VNN) carries out checking drives and slaps penalties on those found using them.