Prepare guidelines for usage of plastic bags in Jodhpur: SC

New Delhi, Jan 29 (UNI) The Supreme Court has directed Rajasthan Government to frame necessary guidelines on or before March 31 to check the use of plastic bags in the state in view of the increasing number of deaths of head of cattle due to consumption of these bags.

A Bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and Dalveer Bhandari has also directed that plastic bags must be separated along with other plastic material from the garbage and destroyed separately to prevent its consumption by cattle, bulls and other animals.

The court also directed the state government to provide the necessary infrastructure to milk dairy owners/operators latest by March 25 and ensure relocation of the milk dairies from the historic city of Jodhpur.

The orders came on an appeal filed by Milkmen Colony Vikas Samiti against state High Court judgement of July 12, 2004.

Opposing their relocation, the milk dairy owners had contended that they have been selling milk and milk products in the city for the last 44 years and they cannot be shifted like this.

In 1956, 332 plots were allotted to milk dairy owners by the state government at the rate Rs 2 per square yard.

The Rajasthan government and Rajasthan chapter of Indian Association of Lawyers, however, opposed the appeal that stray animals such as bulls, dogs and cattle were roaming freely in the city, loitering and squatting on the roads endangering human life and creating traffic hazards besides polluting the environment making the city a breeding ground for various diseases.

The court has also directed Municipal Corporation of Jodhpur to remove all unattended stray animals from the city latest by April 30.

UNI