Staff Correspondent:

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources, stated that despite repeated warnings, those involved in the production and marketing of banned polythene will no longer be spared and strict nationwide drives will commence with the support of joint enforcement forces.

She made these remarks on Thursday afternoon during an exchange meeting held at the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Bangladesh Secretariat, presided over by Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the Advisor to the Ministry of Home Affairs, with participation from various law enforcement agencies.

At the meeting, it was decided to carry out rigorous operations against the production, import, marketing, sale, display for sale, storage, distribution, and commercial transportation of banned polythene shopping bags.

The Environment Advisor emphasized the need for a collective effort to protect the environment. She stated that a coordinated and uninterrupted action plan will be implemented involving the administration, law enforcement agencies, local government bodies, and the mass public.

Also present at the meeting were Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Nasimul Ghani, Additional Secretary Khandaker Mahbubur Rahman, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment Dr. Fahmida Khanom, Director General of the Department of Environment Md. Kamruzzaman, RAB ADG (Operations) Colonel Iftekhar Ahmed, Commander of Azimpur Army Camp Lt. Col. Nahid-uz-Zaman Khan, RAB-10 Commander Mohammad Kamruzzaman, DMP Additional Commissioners Nazrul Islam and Faruq Ahmed, Chief Waste Management Officer of Dhaka South City Corporation Air Commodore Md. Mahbubur Rahman Talukdar, Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Tanvir Ahmed, and DMP DC of Lalbagh Mohammad Jasim Uddin.

Meanwhile, in Kishoreganj, a mobile court filed a case and seized polythene for illegal production, sale, supply, and marketing of banned polythene. On the same day, a raid was conducted on a polythene shopping bag manufacturing unit in Araihazar Upazila of Narayanganj, where the electricity connection was cut off and the electric meter was seized.