The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday ordered those producing, selling and transporting plastic items to register with the state pollution control board within 10 days.
It also directed the government to ban the sale of plastic products from any such persons who have not been registered with the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board.
The producers, sellers and distributors of plastic products have also been directed to collect waste plastic products such as bottles, packets of chips etc and if they fail to do so then provide a fund to the municipal board, municipal council or gram panchayats respectively in the areas they operate.
The order was issued by a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice R C Khulbe while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) relating to the ban of single-use plastic.
The PIL was related to various rules made for sustainable disposal of plastic and their continued violation.
It said in 2013 the state government had made rules for disposal of plastic waste. Further in 2018 the central government had bought fourth plastic waste management rules which directed the producers, sellers and transporters of plastic goods to take back and recycle as much plastic as they would supply or provide funding to the related municipal board, municipal corporation or gram panchayat.
It was further claimed in the PIL that none of these rules have been followed since. This has led to accumulation of piles of plastic waste in the hilly areas, the plea added.
The court will now hear the PIL after five weeks and the government has been directed to file a reply.
(With PTI inputs)
