MP High Court orders Kamal Nath govt to ban single-use plastic, polythene

Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday ordered Chief Minister Kamal Nath government to impose an immediate ban on single-use plastic and polythene in the state.

The court ruling came when the bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Rajeev Srivastava was hearing a PIL seeking to make the environment free from plastic.

The petition, filed by activist Gaurav Pandey through advocate Awdhesh Singh Bhadoria in January 2018 stated that even after Madhya Pradesh administration issued a notification in May 2017 to ban polythene. It said that the polythene is being used at a big scale causing harm to the environment.

In the order, the High Court ruled that the Madhya Pradesh administration should not allow the production and distribution of polythene.

The court also directed to the state government to establish small industries which will manufacture bags made of paper and clothes as an alternative to single-use plastic and polythene. It said that the prices should be kept at a minimum.

The bench also asked the government to establish plants for clean water across every city in order to ban single-use plastic bottle for drinking water.