It was refreshing to see the menace of plastic bags being highlighted (Editorial, Dec.18). That over a trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the world’s oceans causing damage throughout the food chain is a shocking fact. Plastic bags cannot be banned outright but people can be made to pay more when they try to use them. It is estimated that each cloth bag eliminates about 1,000 plastic bags. To reduce plastic bag use, the government must apply the policy it has on tobacco — high tax rates. Businesses often fight anti-plastic bag laws, but the government should not succumb to their pressure tactics. Saving the environment from the perpetual problem of mounting indestructible garbage is far more important than a few jobs lost, if at all. Unless plastic is banned, “Swachh Bharat” will forever remain a dream.
H.N. Ramakrishna,Bengaluru