NWFP government is planning to impose a ban on the manufacturing and use of plastic bags in the provincial capital and some other parts of the province to overcome the growing environmental hazards.
Sources in the environment department said that concerned officials have been instructed to impose a ban initially on the use of the manufacturing of the black plastic bags in the metropolis, and gradually it would be extended to the entire province and cover all types of plastic bags.
The provincial local government and rural development department would play a major role to control the nuisance caused by the extensive use of the polythene bags while the district governments and town municipal administrations would be engaged in implementing the action against the plastic bags.
Measures to gradually put an end to the use of the polythene bags has been necessitated because of the increasing environmental hazards resulting from their unsafe disposal by end users.
Experts said that because of their being non-perishable, the plastic bags are undermining soil fertility and blocking sewage system in Peshawar and its surrounding areas.
Similarly, unsafe practices to dispose of solid waste by civic bodies and garbage dealers are adding to atmospheric pollution in the provincial capital where air pollution has attained alarming proportions.
Besides the provincial capital, the situation in the rest of the province is also quite bad as not in any of the districts safe disposal of solid waste, particularly plastic bags, is being practised.
Experts said that the black plastic bags involved hazardous chemicals and when they are burnt during the disposal of the solid waste, they cause more harm to atmosphere than plastic in any other colour. They added that even carrying food items in black plastic bags is not safe.
It is learnt that Peshawar receives plastic bags from factories in Punjab and the FATA. Besides, the plastic bags manufactured in Iran are also available in the local market finding their way illegally from Afghanistan to the FATA.
"It will be a difficult task to ban their manufacturing as it only requires a small room to install machinery used in the manufacturing of the plastic bags," said sources.
No official agency in the provincial capital knows how many such factories are functioning in the provincial capital.