| Publication:Times Of India Mumbai; | Date:Sep 22, 2005; | Section:Times City; | Page Number:6 |
Panel to study plastic ban irks environment dept
By Prafulla Marpakwar/TNN
Mumbai: A committee set up by the industries department to study the impact of the total ban on plastic bags on the industry has created utter confusion in the corridors of power.
Senior bureaucrats of the environment department have expressed surprise over the decision of the industries department to set up a committee headed by industries commissioner Sharwari Gokhale. As per the official order issued on September 16, the 11-member committee, which also includes nominees of the plastic bag manufacturers, dairy development commissioner and IIT, will hear the views on the proposal to ban all types of plastic bags and its impact on the plastic industry and submit its report to the government.
Joint secretary (industries) Preetam Athavale said the role of the committee is limited, since it will record the views of the plastic manufacturers and submit the same to the environment department. Our role is very limited, we will present a perspective of the situation in the event the plastic bags are banned, Athavale told TOI.
Significantly, the industries department did not consult the environment department before constituting the high-level committee, nor did it include its nominee on it. This has resulted in much ill-feeling between the industries department headed by Ashok Chavan and environment department headed by Ganesh Naik.
The environment department, which has been at the receiving end for being slow in issuing the notification, has now questioned the propriety of the industries department to set up a committee to discuss a decision taken by the state cabinet. Once a decision is taken by the cabinet, its wrong on the part of the industries department to set up a committee, a senior official of the environment department said.
The official said as per the September 13 notification, suggestions and objections have been invited from the public, NGOs and plastic bag manufacturers on the proposal before the government to ban all kinds of plastic bags. As such, it was the responsibility of the industries department to forward the representations received by it to the environment department, however, instead, it set up its own committee for the purpose. Prima facie, it appears that the industries department is acting against the interest of the environment department, the official added.
The official said it was time for CM Vilasrao Deshmukh to step in and wind up the committee set up by the industries department.