CHENNAI: Grossly flouting a Supreme Court order that banned the usage of plastic in packaging gutkha, over half the products in the market still use plastic, suggests a recent study. Part of a nation- wide exercise, the study was conducted in eight states across the country, of which 10 districts in Tamil Nadu were examined.It was done by the Voluntary Health Association of India. It was found that the usage of plastic packaging for paan and gutkha products was close to the national average in TN, said Saulina Arnold, executive director, TN Voluntary Health Association. Of the 20 brands in the market, six were found to be in direct contravention of the ban, which came into effect in March. “Two brands are using a layer of paper packing over the plastic pack to elude detection,” she said.Producing samples, she claimed that most brands were purposefully retailing products without a manufacturing date or batch number.Further, none of the 100 vendors interviewed were aware of the ban, said Arnold, and added that quite a few brands were being sold in the “black” to minors at a higher rate.
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