Madras high court bans 28 plastic items in Western Ghats from Nilgiris to Agathiyar Biosphere

CHENNAI: Madras high court has banned 28 plastic items in the Western Ghats, ranging from the Nilgiris to the Agathiyar Biosphere in Kanyakumari district. The banned items include PET bottles, cups, tumblers, plates, carry bags, and plastic films used for food wrapping.

“The manufacture, storage, supply, transport, sale, and distribution of the 28 items are banned throughout the Western Ghats, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves, starting from the Nilgiris up to the Agathiyar Biosphere in Kanyakumari district,” the said a special division bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy.

“Shop owners, vendors, or any other persons involved in distributing snacks, biscuits, or any other consumables packaged in multi-layered wrappers, foils, multi-layered covers, sachets, pouches, or other non-biodegradable packaging materials shall cut open the packages and transfer the contents to biodegradable paper covers made of butter paper which do not contain plastic materials,” the court said.

The bench added that a ‘deposit return system’ shall be followed for providing reusable cups, tumblers, food containers, tiffin carriers, and ever-silver bottles to the tourists and the general public upon payment of Rs 20 to Rs 50, and the amount can be refunded upon returning these items.

“Innovative approaches, such as developing a tourist bag kit made of cloth as an extension of the TN govt’s ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme, can be introduced; the kit will have reusable bottles, cloth bags for purchases, cutlery along with saleable eco-friendly straws, napkins, and small food storage containers,” the court said.