Say no to plastic bags: Sepa intensifies awareness drive across Sindh

The Sindh government has intensified its province-wide awareness campaign through the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) to ensure strict implementation of the ban on plastic shopping bags effective from June 15.

Officials said that acting on the special directives of Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Coastal Development Agha Shah Nawaz Khan, Sepa teams inspected markets, wholesale centres, retail shops, and manufacturing units in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Ghotki, Naushahro Feroze, Sanghar, Larkana, Tando Allahyar, Sujawal, Mirpurkhas, and Shaheed Benazirabad.

The government-issued notifications regarding the ban were distributed among vendors and manufacturers.

In Mirpurkhas, Sepa initiated action against plastic scrap units, issuing personal hearing notices to appear before the Sepa director general.

In Sukkur, a key meeting was held in collaboration with the local Chamber of Commerce where the business community pledged full support for the ban. However, they stressed that implementation should begin with manufacturing units in Karachi, the main hub of plastic production.

Speaking to the media, Secretary Agha Shah Nawaz Khan stated, “Plastic bags not only cause severe environmental pollution but also pose serious risks to human health. We are running a comprehensive campaign to raise public awareness, aiming for zero tolerance on this issue. There will be no compromise on enforcing environmental laws.”

He added that strict legal action would be taken against violators after June 15.

Advisor to Chief Minister on Environment, Dost Muhammad Rahimoon has also instructed authorities to enforce a zero-tolerance policy rigorously and urged all stakeholders to cooperate, calling it a patriotic responsibility.