So when New Year festivities die down on the morning of January 1, 1999, the state's ban on plastic carry bags, the first of its kind in the country, will come into force. The ban offers hope for all states, including Maharashtra, contemplating similar bans.

``Retailers, vendors and manufacturers will be prohibited from selling the bags,'' Rajbant Sandhu, state environment secretary and chairperson of the state pollution control board told Express Newsline. ``We hope to set an example for the rest of the country.''

The notification which bans coloured plastic carry bags utilises a clause of the Himachal Pradesh Non-Biodegradable Act enacted in 1995, where the state government can imposerestrictions on packing material, she said.

So what prompted this picture-postcard state nestling in the Himalayas to go in for the ban?

``For a while, it looked like our beautiful state was sitting on a pile of plastic carry bags,'' explains Dr R K Sood of the state Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

Non-biodegradable plastic carry bags scattered on the hillsides prevented soil retaining grass from growing. The instant result was soil erosion. ``We found jagged nullahs appearing on the hill sides,'' says Sood.

Stray incidents of cows falling sick after eating the bags began occurring and cases of municipal sewers being blocked up by masses of carry bags were a regular occurrence.

The state administration hopes to implement the ban using a two-pronged strategy, banning retailers from stocking the bags and raising public awareness.

The state administration has already cranked up its machinery to spread awareness about plastic carry bags through cinema halls, cable TV andnewspapers, including an appeal from the Chief Minister.

``We've been urging them to switch over to jhola bags or bring jute shopping bags to the market,'' says Dr Sood, adding that the public was now geared up for the ban. And as the campaign builds up momentum, shopkeepers have started requesting people to bring their own shopping bags from January 1, he said.

The notification imposes a compounding schedule penalty, i.e. fines increase with the repetition of the offence. It begins with fines of Rs 50 and Rs 100, going up to a penalty of Rs 5,000 and simple imprisonment.

The notification empowers members of Nagar Panchayats and municipal officials like food and sanitary inspectors to impose these fines.

However, officials admit that the notification doesn't cover members of the public as people cannot be stopped from carrying the bags. ``For that we have to rely on the good sense of our citizens to dump the bags,'' says Sood.