A make-or-break ban

The current list of banned items is not comprehensive

India’s ban on certain items that are defined as single-use plastic came into effect on July 1 in the midst of enormous pressure from certain industries to defer the deadline. The fact is that even if the current ban on single-use plastic is too limited, it is a critical step to control the menace of plastic pollution. We do not need to be warned about the problem. We live it every day. Our cities are littered with non-biodegradable plastic material, and it is greatly adding to environmental stress and degradation.

The way ahead is to ensure that ubiquitous plastic items in