High Court bats for supplying milk in tetra sachets

CHENNAI: A division bench of Madras High Court on Friday asked the State government to file its response on whether milk and other items could be supplied in tetra packets. Citing the method being used by several private dairy firms, the court wanted the government to indicate the possibilities to follow suit to avoid the usage of plastic packets.

The bench comprising Justice S Vaidyanathan and Justice PT Asha passed the direction on hearing the petition filed by Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Plastic Manufacturers Association. The petitioners sought direction to scrap the GO issued by the State government to ban the usage of plastic.

When the matter was taken up, the bench asked Additional Advocate General J Ravindran, why not the government shall use its machinery for effective enforcement of banned plastic substances.

The AAG replied that the government has imposed penalties on people who are using such banned plastics. He also informed the court that about 514 kgs of banned plastics were seized from 8,550 shops and Rs.28.83 lakh in the last 20 months.

Recording the submissions, the judges noted that whenever the cases are coming, authorities are rushing to conduct the rides.

Justice S Vaidyanathan pointed out that bubble-top plastic water containers are widely used by people and no one knows how it is produced and the safety of using them.

The bench observed that the day-to-day materials which we use have plastics that are hazardous to the health and the government should contain them.

The judges posted the matter on August 29 directing the authorities to file a counter explaining the possibilities of using tetra packets like Amul and Nestle to supply the milk. The HC wanted the government to file a report about the safety of bubble-top water containers.