KARACHI: The ban on the use of plastic bags has come into effect in Sindh from today, after the provincial government issued a notification banning the use of plastic bags.
According to Murtaza Wahab, the Sindh Chief Minister’s adviser on Law, Environment, Climate Change & Costal Development, the production, sale and usage of plastic bags is a crime under the environmental laws of the province.
The Sindh government has also formed teams from the provincial environment department will be dispatched to carry out raids, and ensure that the law is being followed. The teams will be paired up with the police.
Those who will be selling products in plastic bags will be arrested and a fine of Rs 10,000 will be imposed on them.
A day earlier, a notification by the provincial government invoked the Sindh Prohibition of Non-Degradable Plastic Products and the Sindh Environment Protection Act 2014.
The government further directed the use instead of oxo-biodegradable plastic, which is known to degrade in the open environment and is seen as an environment-friendly replacement of single-use plastic packaging.
On August 14, Islamabad became the first city in Pakistan to declare itself free from polythene bags.
