The ban on the polythene bag is now of no use, as it has made a comeback with its pervasive presence everywhere. The extent of use of this environmentally harmful object gives an impression that there is no ban prohibiting its use. But the reality is a thorough ban is still now in force, albeit in paper only, on production, import, marketing, sale, display, storing, distribution, transportation and use of polythene of less than 55 micron thickness for business purposes.

Long ago after this ban we heard news about companies fined for its production, now we do not get any such news. A report of this newspaper yesterday puts it that there are about 1,200 polythene factories across the country that are producing and marketing polythene bags. And consumers of all kinds are using them freely. In the nineties use of polythene bags became all-encompassing, and environmentalists and other concerned cried hoarse to stop its use.

Before, people used to go to the kitchen market with bags made of cotton or jute when there was no polythene bag. As polythene bags crept, they started going to market without any such bag. The use of striped or solid colour bags with handle became so rampant that it is still fresh in our mind. Thanks to the ban, in 2002, on the use and marketing of polythene bags in Dhaka city, they disappeared and we heaved a sigh of relief that this environmental and ecological hazard had all gone. But this relief was only temporary. After some years polythene bags without handle started to appear again and now in 2018 we find that it has become an integral part of people’s shopping .

Quoting a high official of Department of Environment (DoE), The Independent report says that each family in Dhaka uses four polythene bags daily and about two crore bags are thrown away after its one time use daily in Dhaka alone. And all people are, in some way or other, involved in this collective guilt. But for the sake of protecting environment, we all have to say ‘No’ to its use. If the factories that produce the illegal item marketed by a syndicate can be effectively busted, a great environmental job will be done. They are just doing this before the law enforcers’ eyes. If law enforcers will it, they will do it as one of their bounden duties.

We live in an environmentally vulnerable country, thanks to the global climate change. We ought to be extra cautious about fighting environmental challenges including the use of polythene bags.