NEW DELHI (May 8, 4:30 p.m. ET) — The Supreme Court of India is urging India's central and state governments to ban plastic bags, in the interest of rights of the people and animals.
The court said bags are choking lakes, ponds and urban sewers, creating a threat to the next generation that is greater than the atom bomb.
A two-judge bench gave its ruling on a petition filed by the Karuna Society for Animals, based in Andhra Pradesh, India. The non-profit group provides free medical care and shelter for sick, injured, abandoned and abused animals.
The society has sought a ban on plastic bags in all municipalities. According to the organization, cows are attracted to food in trash bins and end up ingesting plastic bags.
“What appears to be a healthy cow, is in fact a plastic-choked cow, or a cow full of plastic,” the group said in its petition. “Apart from the plastic completely choking the digestive system of the cow and causing excruciating pain to the animal, the plastic residues enter the human food chain through dairy and animal products.”
The court said drains in the country are getting clogged by plastic waste.
“Unless you demand a mechanism to put a ban on the use of plastics, it is not going to help,” the court said.
