Thakurgaon Correspondent :
The use of the banned polythene shopping bags has increased in the Thakurgaon district, posing serious threats to the environment.
In all district shops and markets of Ruhia, Kalibari, Market, Bhulee, Shibganj, Pirganj,
Ranisonkoil, Kalmegh, Kathaldangi, Jaborhat, Lohagara, Shibganj, Madarganj, Salandar, Jaduranibazar, Katihar, Baliadangi, Horipurbazar shopkeepers frequently use these bags to pack their goods to give to the customers.
Mainly the lack of drives by the law enforcement agencies has complete way for such a rise in the use of the banned bags, environmentalists said.
The environment activists also observe that the use of polythene bags remained stopped only for a year following the 2002 government ban. Now its use has become as out of control as it was before the ban, causing blockages in the manure systems and pollution in water-bodies and soil of the district.
Production of polythene bags, made of non-biodegradable materials, began in Bangladesh about three decades ago. Following the campaigns by the green activists on their destructive impacts, the government in March 2002 imposed a countrywide a ban on the production and use of all types of polythene shopping bags.
Deputy Commissioner Md.Shahiduzzaman told this correspondent that they were soon to take stern action against the traders selling and using the polythene bags.
