Assam to Ban Disposable Plastic Water Bottles

GUWAHATI: The state government of Assam has announced a ban on disposable plastic water bottles in the state with bottles of capacity less than 1 litre to be banned by October 2 this year. This decision was taken by the meeting of the Assam cabinet that took place on Friday with Himanta Biswa Sarma as the chairman.

“The Assam cabinet has approved to prohibition on the production and use of drinking water bottles made of PET of less than 1 litre in volume and strict implementation of the ban on Single-Use Plastic in the state as per the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021 and the ban will be placed in effect from October 2 this year with a 3 month transition period provided up to that date,” Himanta Biswa Sarma announced.

“The state government will also ban the production and use of drinking water bottles made of PET of less than 2 litres in volume from October 2 next year,” he added.

This step was taken to reduce the amount of plastic pollution generated in the state. It was also found in recent times that these water bottles are a major cause of urban floods as they choke the drainage systems in the cities and towns. Plastic bottles have also been a major concern across the region in terms of other forms of pollution in the face of the lack of ample opportunities to dispose of the same.

After the cabinet meeting, the CM also mentioned the vision of a flood-free Assam and the Climate Resilient Brahmaputra Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Project. Phase 1 of this Asian Development Bank-aided project is to be implemented with a cost of Rs 2097 Cr through a Flood and River Erosion Management Agency.

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