ABBOTTABAD: A campaign launched recently to rid the Abbottabad district of polythene bags after a ban on the non-biodegradable stuff in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province seems to have not been fully successful as no low-cost replacement of the plastic shopping bags has so far been introduced here.

Commenting on the matter, deputy commissioner Mughees Sanaullah said that his administration had been trying hard to create an eco-friendly environment at the tourist destinations by introducing the biodegradable bags.

He claimed that campaign against the use of plastic bags had borne fruit. He said the prisoners in the district jail and the social welfare department had been involved in making of the low-cost cloth bags.

Mr Sanaullah said cloth bags would soon be provided at grocery stores, adding cost of a cloth bag won’t exceed Rs30. He said option of fiber and paper bags was also under consideration.

It may be mentioned here that use of plastic bags by the traders continues unabated despite a ban by the district administration.

The local administration had introduced cloth bags at all the grocery stores fixing their price. But this provided the traders another opportunity to fleece the consumers. With the increase in rates of edibles, a consumer now has to pay additional Rs50 to Rs70 per bag for carrying grocery items.

The consumers asked the district administration to make the shopkeepers bound to provide these bags at the officially-fixed rate of Rs30 per bag. However, they lamented that the administration had turned a blind eye to the matter, allowing the traders to fleece the consumers.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2020