Pune: Suhasini Kadam, a housewife living in Kondhwa, started making her own disposable packets to bag garbage last month, but is a little disheartened that the state government has begun relaxing some norms which includes permission to use black garbage liners. She does not want them back.“For years, we have been using these plastic liners. Now that the transition has been made, it will not be good to move back. Making paper bags is easy and there is no special skill required. Why should I get back to the old habit when I have changed it for something better?” Suhasini told TOI.Her neighbour, Anjali Jagtap, who started using the garbage liners once the regulations were relaxed, took her cue from Suhasini, and stopped using them.“One has to say that disposing garbage is still an issue and the state government needs to give us a proper alternative when it comes to disposing wet waste. However, I learned from her (Suhasini) how to make bags with the help of thick magazine covers or the many leaflets which are provided with the newspapers. The fact remains that the plastic is bad and we shouldn’t really get back to our old ways due to small reasons and excuses,” Anjali told TOI.The state saw the enforcement of plastic ban from June 23. However, the state government has relaxed some of its regulations including the use of garbage liners, letting small retailers use plastic bags etc, for the next 3 months until some alternatives are introduced.Jagan, who owns a small grocery shop along the NIBM Road and has been using paper bags much before the ban came into effect said any rollback was a bad idea.“We have adapted and so have many customers. Those who have not should mend their ways. I started using brown paper bags for packing items in May and have been doing it since. They (state government) may have relaxed the norms but why should I restart plastic bags? I don’t know much about environment and hazards, but paper is a good option and I am sticking by it. There are some customers who tell me to use plastic bags again but I refuse. We should always move forward,” Jagan told TOI.Railways Keeps WatchOfficials at the Pune division of Central Railway told TOI that they had formed a 4-member committee is each of the stations under their jurisdiction to make sure that plastic was not used on the premises.“The machine used to dispose of plastic waste will soon see a place at the Pune station. We have men who are informing passengers about the ban. There are many trains coming from other states and passengers don’t know about the ban. We are informing them immediately after they get out of the train. The committees are working hard,” senior divisional commercial manager (DCM) Krishnath Patil, told TOI.

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