The State government has decided to extend the HP Non-Biodegradable (Garbage) Control Act, 1955, to all cities and towns which would amount to banning littering of the polythene bags on the hills, slopes and public places. Besides segregation of the dry and wet garbage, the ambitious plan will require provisioning of separate bins for depositing them. More importantly, it will necessitate educating the people, creating awareness among them and activating the fund-starved local bodies which will be called upon to play a leading role by setting up recycling units.

Though enthused, environmental scientists pick holes not onlyin the plan but also in the Act enacted by the Himachal Pradesh Government. The Act, they say, does not cover the use of polythene bags and makes only the act of littering and throwing of polythene bags at public places, in drainage systems and unmanned slopes, a cognizable offence. Powers to enforce the Act are yet to be conferred on concerned officers.

Then, plan for house-to-house collection and segregation of garbage is yet to be evolved. Finally. its disposal or recycling for useful purposes like making mats etc, will need undivided attention. Moreover, no time-frame has been set for elimination of the polythene bags. The directorate of urban local bodies, which will be the nodal agency for executing the phase-out-polythene plan, has no fixed budget for funding the 48 municipal bodies, besides the Shimla Municipal Corporation, it is pointed out.

What makes the doubts look real is the failure of the earlier pilot project launched to free the towns of Shimla and Manali from the menace of polythene. Itwas grounded for want of public support. Several traders and retailers, who had voluntarily given up polythene in favour of paper bags, are back to the recycled coloured plastic bags.

But the authorities exude confidence. ``We are extending the provisions of the Act to all the towns and lot of ground work has already been done. Many more things are in the pipeline,'' says Rajwant Sandhu, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Science, Technology and Environment. She told ENS that involvement of the public, NGOs, traders and educational institutions in the execution and education and communication programme formed part of the campaign to achieve the goal.

V P Gupta, Director, Urban Local Bodies, when contacted, said that he was asking the government for special funds. The State Council for Science, Technology and Environment proposed to provide full back-up to kick out polythene. The foreign-funded project of Norwegian Agency for Development on urban waste management is indeed a big hope, said both officials.``Basic equipment like garbage bins and dumper placers purchased under the project have already reached some of the strategic civic bodies and in the next phase, we will concentrate on segregation, collection and safe disposal of the non-biodegradable waste, including polythene bags,'' disclosed Gupta.

Sandhu has already shot off letters to deputy commissioners asking them to draw up plans for implementing the ban in their respective areas. Besides education and public awareness programmes, the DCs have been advised to look out for various alternatives for setting up solid waste treatment plants and recycling units and for this funds would be provided for the Council of Science, Technology and Environment.

In fact, when previous Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had conceived the idea of banning the use of polythene bags in the state, he had thought of a total ban, including its use and also carriage to state's territory. The government had written to the Union Environment Ministry in 1995 to permit thestate to impose a complete ban.

``The Centre neither accepted the proposal nor rejected it and is still lying in the ministry,'' said a senior official. The government, however, went ahead and enacted its own law -- The HP Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 1995 -- to promote awareness among the people and at the same time ban throwing of the polythene bags at public places. Sales tax on paper bags was also abolished to encourage their use.

Says Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, ``Since Union Minister for Environment and Forest Suresh Prabhu is himself keen on the ban, I will take up the matter afresh and persuade the case for a total ban on polythene in the state.'' The Department of Science, Technology and Environment plans a workshop of secretaries of municipal committees to sensitise them about the need for banning the polythene.

Later, the campaign to clear the hill slopes of dumped polythene bags will be launched on a large scale, involving the Shimla Municipal Corporation, school children,NGOs and social workers. Ultimately, powers for taking legal action against the violators would be conferred on secretaries of municipal bodies.

Traders' bodies and citizens share concern over the polythene menace but suggest that public consciousness be promoted effectively before a ban is imposed. The implementing agencies also need to be equipped and provided with resources to ensure that the scheme tells the tale of the eliminated polythene.