"Even after the pledged date (July 16), the government has not enforced the ban "
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 15
The Supreme Court has issued an interim order to the government asking it to impose a complete ban on the use of plastic bags with less than 40-micron thickness within the next 21 days.
The order was passed by a single bench of Justice Nahakul Subedi in response to a writ petition filed by Advocate Padam Bahadur Shrestha and others.
Stating that the constitution guaranteed citizens the right to live in a clean environment, the bench observed that it would be challenging to reverse impacts of environment pollution if steps were not taken to mitigate environment pollution on time.
The bench also stated that the new fiscal budget had pledged to ban the use of plastic bags with less than 40-micron thickness from July 16. "Even after the pledged date, the government has not enforced the ban. This shows the government's indifference to the constitutional and legal provisions and the court's previous verdicts."
The SC said it was issuing an interim order to ban the use of plastic bags less than 40-micron in thickness as the use of such bags would infringe upon the citizens' right to live in a clean environment.
The bench observed that many countries had banned plastic bags that fail to meet the weight and thickness criteria, keeping in mind the harmful impacts of plastic bags on the environment, human beings, and living creatures.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 16 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
