DoE drive against polythene resumes

The Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday declared Mamota Bahumukhi Somobay Bazar in the capital's Agargaon a polythene-free market.

Traders of the market undertook to keep their market free from poly bags, and handed the ones over to the DoE authorities.

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"We will form a monitoring team from within us to oversee the market so that none can use or sell any banned polythene bag," said Khalek Bhuiyan, auditor of the market, adding that building awareness of problems of using poly bags was very necessary.

Monir Master, vice president of the market's committee, read out charters of the pledge they made for not using polythene bags in the market. He also promised to support DoE in its drive against such bags.

President of Green Savers Md Rony said, "On average, every day an individual takes at least five poly bags to his/her house from kitchen markets. Of which, four… are dumped into waterbodies, drains and other places, blocking the city's drainage system."

The director general of DoE said they have taken initiatives to keep kitchen markets free from poly bags.

He urged the traders to maintain their pledge, and requested to help them in this regard.

Presiding over the programme, Director of DoE (Dhaka metropolitan) Dr Anowar Hossain Hawlader said they would take initiatives to shut down the factories producing poly bags.

According to the DoE sources, they seized 135 tonnes of banned polythene bags and fined their producers a total of Tk 1.72 crore in the last fiscal.