KARACHI, Jan 14: The city government has planned another campaign against plastic bags amid persisting confusion over the thickness of polythene bags.

According to a Sindh government notification issued in the last week of December 2008, a ban was imposed on the manufacture, sale and use of polythene bags having 300 or less microns thickness in the limits of the city government for 30 days under Section 144 of the CrPC with immediate effect.

But the city government indicated once again on Wednesday that it would enforce harsh penalties against those found producing and marketing plastic bags of 150 or less microns in thickness after Jan 15.

A new notification by the home department banning the manufacture, sale and use of polythene bags having 150 or less microns thickness in the limits of the city government is still awaited.

The city government deferred the implementation of the home department order, saying it had entered into an agreement with the All Karachi Plastic Bags Manufacturers’ Association in December that it would not initiate any drive against polythene bags till Jan 15.

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has been urging the citizens to promote the culture of using paper or cloth bags and stop using polythene bags. He has also suggested to the citizens not to make purchases from traders using polythene bags, asking the businessmen at the same time to keep the promise they had made to the city government that they would not market the banned polythene bags.

Sources say that the city government is set to launch another campaign against the use of banned polythene bags on Jan 16.

The magistrates belonging to the revenue department will be placed to check the manufacture, use and sale of polythene bags having thickness of 150 microns or less and size smaller than 18X24 inches in the limits of Karachi district.

The city government is opposed to the polythene bags as they choke sewerage lines and drains in the city, besides harming public health and the environment.

In the meantime Dawn has learnt that the necessary notification for taking action against the production, sale and use of the bags of restricted thickness and size had not been issued by the home department of the provincial government till Wednesday.

The home department is being approached in this regard and it was likely that the ban notification would be out before the commencement of the campaign, an official said on Wednesday night.