{"id":45676,"date":"2025-06-18T21:08:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=45676"},"modified":"2025-07-07T16:14:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T10:44:43","slug":"kerala-high-court-bans-single-use-plastic-in-hilly-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-06-2025\/kerala-high-court-bans-single-use-plastic-in-hilly-areas","title":{"rendered":"Kerala High Court Bans Single-Use Plastic in Hilly Areas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Kerala High Court has imposed a<strong> ban on single-use plastics in hilly tourist destinations<\/strong> and regulated the use of plastic bottles at large gatherings such as weddings and government events.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The court clarified that the ban does not apply to the non-woven polypropylene bags with a thickness of <strong>60 GSM (grams per square metre)<\/strong> and above.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Impact of Plastic Waste<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Climate and Biodiversity Linkages:<\/strong> <strong>Plastic waste<\/strong> in the hilly regions contributes to soil and water contamination, affecting biodiversity and local food systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Environmental Sensitivity:<\/strong> Hilly regions are ecologically fragile and require extra safeguards against pollution and degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public Health:<\/strong> Accumulated plastic waste leads to <strong>mosquito breeding, water contamination<\/strong>, and affects the natural beauty of tourist destinations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges in Waste Governance in the hilly areas<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of Localised Waste Infrastructure: <\/strong>Most mountain towns and villages lack basic waste collection, segregation, and treatment facilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Plastic Ban Policies:<\/strong> Although the tourist destinations have banned certain plastic products, the enforcement is weak, due to inconsistent monitoring, and a lack of viable alternatives for local communities and vendors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Low Awareness:<\/strong> There is insufficient awareness among producers about their responsibilities under <strong>Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Also tourists often lack both education and sensitivity towards sustainable practices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dispersed Settlements:<\/strong> The rugged topography, scattered population, and seasonal weather conditions make it logistically challenging to establish and maintain effective <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/13-05-2025\/india-rising-e-waste-and-need-to-recast-management\"><strong>waste management<\/strong><\/a> systems in hilly areas.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Efforts in Tackling Plastic Waste<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR):<\/strong> The Indian government has implemented EPR, making plastic manufacturers responsible for managing and disposing of the waste generated by their products.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/29-12-2022\/cag-report-on-plastic-waste-management\">Plastic Waste<\/a> Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022:<\/strong>\u00a0 It prohibits manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of plastic carry bags having thickness less than <strong>120 microns.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Swachh Bharat Abhiyan:<\/strong> It is a national cleanliness campaign, which includes the collection and disposal of plastic waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Plastic Parks:<\/strong> India has set up Plastic Parks, which are specialized industrial zones for recycling and processing plastic waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Indian judiciary,<\/strong> under <strong>Article 21<\/strong> of the Constitution (Right to Life), has proactively engaged in cases of environmental degradation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mountain-Sensitive Waste Policies:<\/strong> Waste management policies that consider geographic remoteness, traditional practices, and ecological sensitivity are essential.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Decentralised Waste Systems: <\/strong>Focus should be on community-based, low-impact waste solutions rooted in traditional knowledge and local governance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sustainable Tourism Practices: <\/strong>Establish mandatory waste audits and management protocols at tourist sites, especially around water bodies and pilgrimage circuits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/kerala\/kerala-hc-imposes-ban-on-single-use-plastic-items-in-hilly-areas\/article69705049.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Read this in Hindi: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs-hindi\/18-06-2025\/%e0%a4%95%e0%a5%87%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%b2-%e0%a4%89%e0%a4%9a%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%9a-%e0%a4%a8%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%af%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%af%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%b2%e0%a4%af-%e0%a4%aa%e0%a4%b9%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%a1%e0%a4%bc%e0%a5%80-%e0%a4%95%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%b7%e0%a5%87%e0%a4%a4%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%b0%e0%a5%8b%e0%a4%82-%e0%a4%8f%e0%a4%95%e0%a4%b2-%e0%a4%89%e0%a4%aa%e0%a4%af%e0%a5%8b%e0%a4%97-%e0%a4%aa%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%b2%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%b8%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%9f%e0%a4%bf%e0%a4%95-%e0%a4%aa%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%a4%e0%a4%bf%e0%a4%ac%e0%a4%82%e0%a4%a7\">\u0915\u0947\u0930\u0932 \u0909\u091a\u094d\u091a \u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f\u093e\u0932\u092f \u0928\u0947 \u092a\u0939\u093e\u0921\u093c\u0940 \u0915\u094d\u0937\u0947\u0924\u094d\u0930\u094b\u0902 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u090f\u0915\u0932-\u0909\u092a\u092f\u094b\u0917 \u092a\u094d\u0932\u093e\u0938\u094d\u091f\u093f\u0915 \u092a\u0930 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093f\u092c\u0902\u0927 \u0932\u0917\u093e\u092f\u093e<\/a><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Kerala High Court has imposed a ban on single-use plastics in hilly tourist destinations and regulated the use of plastic bottles at large gatherings such as weddings and government events.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Impact of plastic waste<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Climate and Biodiversity Linkages: Plastic waste in the hilly regions contributes to soil and water contamination, affecting biodiversity and local food systems.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Environmental Sensitivity: Hilly regions are ecologically fragile and require extra safeguards against pollution and degradation.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Public Health: Accumulated plastic waste leads to mosquito breeding, water contamination, and affects the natural beauty of tourist destinations.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-06-2025\/kerala-high-court-bans-single-use-plastic-in-hilly-areas\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45676"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47119,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45676\/revisions\/47119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}