Deb & Asok in race for plastic bag ban

AVIJIT SINHA and BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri, May 25: Minister Gautam Deb and Siliguri mayor Asok Bhattacharya seem to be vying with each other to re-enforce the complete ban on plastic carry bags in town.

While the minister was scheduled to meet Kalyan Rudra, the chairman of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, in Calcutta this evening to discuss the matter, the mayor held a meeting here today to impose the ban from June 5, on the World Environment Day.

According to Deb, the National Green Tribunal had asked the state government in September last year to conduct a public hearing on the ban on plastic carry bags in Siliguri and the surrounding areas.

"In deference to the tribunal's order, we have decided to conduct a hearing as early as possible. For this, I have already spoken to Kalyan Rudra, the chairman of the pollution control board, and I will meet him in Calcutta this evening," said Deb.

"I will also meet state environment minister Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar in Calcutta tomorrow and discuss the matter," he added.

The minister, who left for Calcutta this afternoon, will return on May 29 and hold a meeting here on the same day with representatives of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority and north Bengal development department, district magistrate, NGOs and local bodies to finalise the date for the mass hearing.

"We hope it will be held on June 8," said Deb.

On the other hand, the new mayor, Bhattacharya, has been harping on about the ban on the plastic carry bags since the day he assumed charge. He had said a separate committee would be formed to look after the implementation of the ban on plastic carry bags and check the pollution in the town.

"The ban on the plastic carry bags is completely dependent on the good intention of the state government. After holding a meeting with representatives of a number of NGOs and SMC staff today, we have decided not only to implement the ban on the plastic carry bags but also to work out ways to check pollution," said Bhattacharya.

"As a part of the World Environment Day celebrations on June 5, we will organise a rally and campaign against the use of plastic carry bags. The next day, there will be a seminar on eco-friendly constructions," the mayor said.

Observers said both Bhattacharya and Deb couldn't afford to miss the opportunity to take credit for the ban.

"Complete imposition of ban on the use of plastic carry bags in Siliguri was one of the few success stories of the previous Congress civic board. In fact, the entire credit must go to Sujay Ghatak, the then member mayor in-council (conservancy). However, after Gangotri Datta resigned as the mayor last year and the SMC went to the hands of a board of administrators, the use of plastic carry bags resumed in town," said an observer.

"As general people still praise Ghatak, both the minister and the mayor have understood the importance of the plastic ban. They are aware that people are displeased now as the use of plastic carry bags has resumed. The mayor has moved ahead and has sought Ghatak's help in re-imposing the ban, while the minister wants to make the best use of government machinery to take credit by convening a public hearing," added the observer.

Oath

Bhattacharya administered the oath to new deputy mayor Rambhajan Mahato and six of the seven MMICs in the SMC office on Monday. Nurul Islam, who has been selected to be an MMIC, has gone to Calcutta for an urgent work and will take oath after some days, SMC sources said.