1 tonne of polythene shopping bag seized
A mobile court on Sunday seized about 1 tonne polythene shopping bags from three markets in the Dhaka city.
The mobile court filed cases against four polythene sellers in kitchen markets at Gulshan 1, Gulshan 2 and Banani areas in the city and realised Tk 60, 000 in fine from them.
Dhaka district’s executive magistrate Md Selim Hossain led the drive with the assistance of environment department’s director (Dhaka division) Sukumar Biswas.
Manufacturing and selling of banned polythene reduced significantly in the past because of mobile court drives in 2003-2007, said Selim Hossain.
But in the recent times, said Selim, the manufacturing and selling of polythene had increased again.
The drive was a part of the week-long anti-polythene campaign of the environment department during September 19-23, said Sukumar Biswas.
The department will resume its regular drive against polythene manufacturing and marketing after the week-long drive, he added.
Sukumar said activities of the mobile court were halted between 2007 and 2009 as the separation process of the judiciary required the formulation of the Mobile Court Bill, 2009, in order to enact an earlier ordinance allowing metropolitan and district magistrates to resume operations of the mobile courts.
The department of environment had been persistently conducting drives against banned polythene after the short break, he added.
According to records of the environment department, it had filed 251 cases against polythene factories and sellers under the Environment Protection Act, 1995, and realised Tk 7,27, 900 in fines from the law breakers until September 19 this year.
The records show that mobile courts had seized 39.99 tonnes of banned polythene during the time.
