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Goa set to impose total ban on plastic bags

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Goa

With the ban on recycled plastic bags getting a positive response from the Goa government, fresh plans are afoot to ban use of all plastic material for packing and wrapping.

Says Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, "It will immediately begin with total ban on usage of plastic in all government establishments". All plastic bags, except those for milk packets and medical purposes, will be banned. A notification in this regard is expected by the end of January.

Parrikar states that the ban would be on all kind of plastic carry bags in the state, irrespective of their thickness. From August 15, 2000, Goa had banned plastic bags up to 20 microns.

"I do not bother even if the local plastic industry suffers due to this. Let them export their produce," says Parrikar.

The government also plans to control tourists who litter roads and beaches in Goa. Parrikar plans to open collection centres for the bottles, which will have a fixed price.

On the other hand, as the Supreme Court has prohibited any government from imposing sales tax on tobacco products, the state government has now decided to impose 25 per cent luxury tax on gutkha and 5 per cent on cigarettes.

Earlier, the state had imposed 100 per cent sales tax on gutkha. But the move only resulted in black-marketeering, rather than revenue-generation.

Parrikar said that action against all shopkeepers selling gutkha or other tobacco products near educational institutions would begin from March 1 this year, after educating them initially for two months.

Goa is one of the few states which prohibits smoking or consuming tobacco products in public places. Authorities, however, have been lenient in implementing it the rule.

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