Friday, February 6, 2009

CDGK restrained from taking action : Polythene bag makers given breather by SHC

ARACHI: A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) comprising Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Arshad Noor Khan restrained the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) on Friday, from taking adverse action against the manufacturers and dealers of polythene bags till further orders.
The bench also issued notices to CDGK, Karachi DCO, Sindh and Environment Protection Department chief secretary for January 21, in a petition filed by the All Karachi Plastic Bags Manufacturers and Dealers Association through its General Secretary Khawaja Ansar Munir Sehgal.
The petitioner submitted that they are aggrieved by the arbitrary and illegal actions taken by CDGK, the Sindh chief secretary and their officers and functionaries. They maintained that their association members substantially invested in setting up units that manufacture various types of polythene bags of different sizes and thickness.
It was maintained that 30 percent of the products were consumed in Karachi while the remaining 70 percent were sent to different parts of the country as no other city has the facility of manufacturing polythene bags. They also maintained that polythene products are used for wrapping value added export goods including textiles, textile products and edibles, thus contributing to the country’s national exports.
The petitioners maintained that the “real problem is not due to polythene bags but due to the inadequate and in-appropriate arrangements for solid waste management that include garbage collection and disposal.” The city has a population of 115 million and it generates 800 tonnes of garbage everyday, however, the capacity of the department concerned in disposing off the garbage is only 400 tonnes. The waste that is left is burnt by the officials of the respondent CDGK, contributing to the pollution, the petitioners maintained, adding that instead of admitting their departmental failure, CDGK is diverting attention from the real issue by creating propaganda that polythene bags choke sewerage lines and emit cancerous fumes to justify their actions.
The petitioners referred to the Sindh Act of Prohibition on Manufacture, Sale and Use of Polythene Bags and prayed the court to strike down the CDGK’s action that is ultra vires of the constitution and to direct the respondents to make adequate arrangements for solid waste management in Karachi.

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