The Madras High Court has banned the manufacture, storage, supply, transport, sale, and distribution of 28 plastic products across the Western Ghats — from the Nilgiris to Agasthiyar Biosphere in Kanniyakumari district — and made it clear that the ban would apply to all hill stations, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves as well.
A special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy ordered that fines be imposed on tourists who clandestinely carry the banned products to the hill stations. The court also directed authorities to impound the motor vehicles that transport such banned products, besides cancelling the permits granted to them.
The banned products include single-use plastic bottles used for consuming water/juices, plastic sheets/cling film used for food wrapping, plastic sheets used for spreading on dining tables, plastic plates, plastic-coated paper plates, plastic-coated paper cups, plastic teacups, plastic tumblers, and thermocol cups.
Plastic coated carry bags, non-woven carry bags, water pouches/packets, plastic straws, plastic flags, ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic carry bags of all sizes and thicknesses, candies with plastic sticks, ice-cream with plastic sticks, and polystyrene for decorations were also banned by the High Court.
The Division Bench said cutleries such as plastic forks, plastic spoons, plastic knives, wrapping or packaging films around sweet boxes, wrapping or packaging films around invitation cards, wrapping or packaging films around cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 microns, and plastic stirrers and trays shall also be banned.
Blanket ban
The judges said though the State government had imposed a blanket ban on single-use plastics across the State in 2018, and they had ordered the ban of certain plastics in the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal in 2019, such banned products continued to be smuggled into the Western Ghats by hiding them in buses and other motor vehicles.
Therefore, the judges directed the State government to invoke its powers under the Motor Vehicles Act and impose a condition in the transport permits, making it clear that those permits would stand cancelled if the vehicles were found to be transporting the banned plastic products, and they would impounded.
In so far as the sale of branded biscuits and snacks sold in non bio-degradable packaging was concerned, the judges ordered that the vendors in the hill stations must be instructed to cut open those packets and hand over their contents to the customers in covers made of paper or other bio-degradable materials.
Provision of paper covers
The local bodies were directed to provide the paper covers to the vendors free of cost by utilising the Green Fund. Collectors, local bodies, and private companies must collectively come out with a plan for safe disposal of the multi-layered non-biodegradable packaging in the custody of the vendors, the court ordered.
“Not a single plastic wrapper, sachet, or packaging material can be strewn in the Nilgiris, Kodaikanal hills, and the entire Western Ghats,” the Bench said and highlighted the harm caused by such plastic materials found strewn all over the pristine hills and the difficulties faced in collecting and disposing of such harmful materials.
The orders were passed after hearing the suggestions made by amici curiae T. Mohan, Chevanan Mohan, Rahul Balaji, and M. Santhanaraman.
The Division Bench ordered that drinking water dispensing machines must be made operational at all possible locations in the hill stations and reusable food containers, cups, tumblers, cutliers, and steel bottles must be made available to the tourists by implementing a refundable deposit system through self-help groups.
Mobile app
Tourists could also be provided with kits containing bio degradable materials, and a mobile app could be developed to help the tourists easily locate the nearest water dispensing station or the kiosk where they could obtain/return the reusable containers as well as the tourist kits.
They said the vendors in the hill stations must also be encouraged to ensure that their customers do not litter, and that the solid waste managerment rules were followed in letter and spirit. The judges decided to pass further orders in the case on June 6, 2025, after taking stock of the steps taken by the authorities by then.
Published – April 16, 2025 04:08 pm IST
