Great! They learned something from the recent flooding. It’s creditable to see a government in our country move this quickly. But the lobbying has started and follows the usual route. Short sighted reps of the plastics industry have started making noises that more than 1,00,000 workers will lose their jobs. Utter tripe of course, but our governments have a habit of rolling back many of their decisions when these kinds of pressures are brought to bear on them. Our overly moralistic politicians had no problem with (so they claim) 1,00,000 bar girls losing their jobs when they closed down dance bars so I hope they will hold firm on the plastic bags issue. But the ban on bar girls has more potential for creating an income for the enforcement system (like prohibition in Gujarat) so that ban will stay so that generous bribes are collected when folks are caught breaking the law. But the ban on plastic bags doesn’t have that much potential for fun. So, even if they don’t roll the law back, I’m afraid the ban is difficult to enforce in a country where law enforcement hardly exists. We already have laws banning the use and manufacture of thin gauge plastic bags, but they continue to be made and used with impunity and continue to choke drainage systems and be eaten by unsuspecting animals and marine life. One look at the chaos on our roads and the government’s inability to enforce laws becomes clearly visible. We export cloth bags to environmentally concerned customers all over the world from www.badlani.com/bags/ but hardly every get any customers in India. Sad, isn’t it?