complete ban of plastic bags in haryana

December 24 - Haryana Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs Kiran Choudhry today directed the officers of Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) to prepare a list of all plastic bag manufacturers of the state and take steps to completely ban the use of plastic bags in the State.
Mrs Choudhry was presiding over the seventh meeting of the Board here today..
It was informed in the meeting that the Board had given notices to 159 Aravalli Hills defaulters and five prosecution cases have been filed against the defaulters so far.
She directed the officials to take strict actions against the defaulters. She had been touring the Aravalli Hills area and had found out that violations were being made despite the strict guidelines of the Supreme Court of India. All defaulters would be punished severely and such activities would be stopped completely.
The Minister urged the Regional Officers of the Board to deal with the pollution problem with strictness and sincerity as pollution free environment is the need of the hour. She directed all the regional officers to appoint environment wardens in each ward in order to keep a check on the use of plastic bags and products. She asked them to spread awareness through rallies and to conduct various wakeful activities pertaining to environment in the State. She also asked the officers to submit a detailed report of the various activities which included awareness campaigns, functioning of the Eco Clubs in accordance to the calendar of events issued by the Board.
Mrs Choudhry said that Head office of the Board would issue no-objection-certificates (NOC) on pollution angle to units having an investment of over Rs 5 crore. These units included hot mix plant, stone crushers, construction projects which had a discharge of 10 KLD or more, units covered under Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification. Units which had an investment of less than Rs 5 crore would be issued NOC on pollution angle by the District Level Clearance Committee (DLCC) headed by the respective Deputy Commissioners as per the Haryana Industrial Promotion Rules 2007. The Units included brick kilns and other plants machineries.
She directed the Board to prosecute the environment violators under the law, failing which the concerned official would be penalized for negligence. She stressed that Bio-medical waste should be disposed off with utmost care and ensure that various medical institutions were adhering to the disposal rules and regulations in the State.
The Minister directed the Board to formulate a proper NOC procedure and make it available online, she said that each stage should be properly explained in order to maintain transparency. She also asked the officers to amend the notification on the functioning of the stone crushers of the state to clearly list the norms and criteria for closure and functioning of the Stone Crushers.
She asked ROs to expedite the awareness campaigns in their districts through young children and disseminate more finances to the ECO clubs. She said that it was very important to sensitize the children on the various environmental issues as they were the future guardians of the Environment.