LAHORE, Jan 28: The provincial government is said to have ordered purchase of 20 million woven polypropylene (WPP) bags for storage of wheat this year, industry sources said on Friday.

The sources claimed that the government was buying 20,000 bales of 1,000 bags each. "The decision to purchase plastic bags for wheat storage has been taken in spite of its opposition by the health and environment experts and cloth and jute bag producers," the sources said.

While environment activists are opposed to the use of WPP bags because of health and environmental hazards, the manufacturers of jute, cloth and paper are against the decision because of loss of business.

"The WPP bags are a proven enemy of the environment as they do not decompose, ruin soil fertility, and choke sewerage. They also cause health problems for consumers of food grains stored in them as they are made of material that is not considered fit for human consumption," the sources said.

They insisted that even the government agencies were opposed to the use of plastic bags for storing food items due to environment and health hazards. The government officials deny their charge. They say there has so far been no report of deterioration of wheat stored in plastic bags.

"We have been using WPP bags for wheat storage for a few years and found them safe enough for this purpose," the officials said. The industry sources say the government had concluded the deal for the purchase of the WPP bags at higher rates than last year.

"About 7,000 bales are bought at the rate of Rs12.79 per bag against last year's Rs12.25 per bag and the remaining 13,000 bales at the rate of Rs13.15 per bag," they claimed.

"It's un understand able that the provincial government has been encouraging the use of something which is being discarded even in several developing countries like Pakistan," the industry sources said.