Anti-polythene drive resumes, one factory sealed off

A mobile court of the Department of Environment on Monday sealed off a polythene bag manufacturing factory in Dhaka and seized 239 rolls of polythene and 54 bags of ingredients.
The factory, Amir Plastic Industries, was being operated on the ground-floor of a five-storey building on Rajnarayan Dhar Road, Lalbagh, in violation of environmental laws.
The executive magistrate of the Dhaka district administration, Mahbuba Bilkis, led the drive with the assistance of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. High officials of the department, including director (enforcement) Munir Chowdhury and director in-charge (Dhaka division) Sukumar Biswas, were present during the drive.
They did not find anybody in the factory when they went there in the morning. The factory was being operated by four blowing machines and three cutting and sewing machines. Two hundred and thirty-nine rolls of polythene and 54 bags of ingredients were stored in the factory.
The court seized the raw materials and sealed off the factory. The department estimated the weight of the seized materials to be about 11 tonnes.
‘This is the biggest factory found in our drives this year,’ said magistrate Mahbuba Bilkis. Sukumar Biswas also marked the drive as their highest success.
Amir’s sister Momena Begum Mini was taken to the factory from her home upon the magistrate’s order. ‘The floor was rented out to Samad,’ she claimed. ‘I did not know that a polythene factory was here.’
No case has been filed and no one was arrested as the owner, Sheikh Md Amir Hossain, and workers of the factory were absconding.
The department will file a regular case with the environment court shortly, Sukumar Biswas told nformed New Age.
‘The machineries found in the factory will be put on auction,’ Munir Chowdhury told New Age, ‘so that the factory cannot resume operation.’
This was a part of the department’s ongoing drive against the manufacturing, distributing and marketing of banned polythene bags.
In the previous 13 drives, in which 142 factories were raided, the mobile courts of the Department of Environment seized about 23,080kg of polythene this year, according to the department’s report. The courts filed 124 cases under Article 4(B), of The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995, against the producers and sellers of polythene and realised Tk 5,64,900 in fines for violation of the law.
Polythene shopping bags, popular for their low price and water resistance, have been blamed for numerous environmental hazards, including contamination of water and clogging of drains and sewers.
The government banned the production, distribution and marketing of these bags in the capital on 1 January, 2002 and made the ban nationwide on April 8 same year.
Experts estimated that before the ban about one crore bags were dumped a day in the capital, 90 per cent of them in unsuitable places.

Courtesy of NewAge