Jammu, June 23: The members of ‘We The Humans Forum for Nature and Mankind, a prominent public charitable trust dedicated to environmental conservation and humanitarian causes in Jammu and Kashmir, have formally lauded the proactive leadership of the LG of Ladakh, V.K. Saxena, for implementing a comprehensive ban on single-use plastics (SUP) across the Ladakh region.
The Forum believes that Ladakh’s introduction of heavy penalties along with a strong mechanism imposing fines and penalties on violators is a landmark move essential for safeguarding the fragile ecology of the Himalayan belt.
Speaking on the matter, Anuj Verma, convenor of the trust, emphasized that the National Conference-led Government in J&K must urgently adopt similar measures. Despite existing regulations, single-use plastics remain rampant across the Union Territory.
Roadside eateries and street vendors continue to use plastic and thermocol cutlery. Most alarmingly, hot gravies and hot food items are frequently packed in thin polythene bags.
Verma highlighted the scientific consensus that serving hot food in plastic or thermocol causes arsenic and microplastics to leach into the meal. This poses a grave risk to public health, contributing to a rise in cancer, tumors, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), and liver ailments. The Forum demands that Municipal bodies and the Food Safety Department strictly enforce a transition to stainless steel cutlery, leaf bowls (pattals), and other biodegradable alternatives.
Verma said that We The Humans Forum for Nature and Mankind has urged the J&K Government to address two major, yet, overlooked sources of plastic pollution: milk pouches and cigarette wrappers. Welcoming Mother Dairy’s recent introduction of biodegradable milk pouches, the Forum demands that the government make this shift mandatory for all milk brands in the UT without delay. Millions of non-biodegradable milk pouches are discarded daily, clogging drains and polluting ecosystems.
The Forum, also, calls for a complete ban on plastic wrapping on cigarette packets, noting these tiny wrappers are among the most ubiquitous street litter items and virtually unrecyclable. Both products, despite recyclability, routinely bypass waste streams, causing toxic chemical leaching, microplastic contamination, and severe environmental damage.
K.Y.S. Manhas (Retd. Principal District & Sessions Judge), Chairman of the Trust’s Management Committee, identified single-use PET bottles as a primary environmental and health “nuisance.” J&K generates over 51,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually (140 tonnes per day). Millions of PET bottles are consumed daily, largely purchased by travellers and tourists. These bottles can take up to 500 years to decompose, permanently scarring the landscape.
The Forum advocates for a total ban on single-use plastic water bottles, urging the public to switch to steel, glass, or traditional earthen (mud) bottles. The Government is urged to install pure water fountains and filtration units at public junctions to reduce the dependency on packaged water.
Manhas, further, said that while J&K officially prohibits plastic carry bags with a thickness of less than 120 microns, the Forum observes a complete lack of enforcement in rural and suburban areas including wholesale fruit and vegetable markets. The Forum demands that enforcement agencies must launch immediate, high-visibility drives in sub-urban and rural districts against use of low quality polythene bags and plastic/ thermocol cutlery. Stringent laws should be introduced that hold the enforcement agencies themselves accountable for any leniency or failure to act.
High-impact financial penalties must be imposed on violators to ensure that the ban is not merely on paper but effective on the ground.
