The Gujarat High Court has added judicial encouragement to a growing state initiative involving local civic bodies installing cloth bag vending machines across temple precincts and public spaces. These machines, intended to ease access to reusable bags and reduce reliance on single-use plastics, have drawn approval from the court as part of broader efforts to enforce state and municipal responsibilities in environmental protection.
State agencies, particularly the Gujarat Pollution Control Board in coordination with municipal corporations, led a pilot scheme placing vending machines at prominent religious sites such as Somnath, Dwarka, Ambaji, Shamlaji, Sarangpur, and ISKCON temples. These dispensers allow devotees to obtain cloth bags—priced nominally at around ₹5—via coin or UPI payment. In promoting sustainability, the initiative also aims to discourage plastic carry bags traditionally used for distributing offerings or prasad. Independent reporting confirmed rapid uptake: over 5,000 bags sold within 60 days of installation and a plan to extend the network to retail and community hubs like Amul parlours was underway. These efforts coincide with a state-led anti-plastic campaign articulated by senior officials, calling for broad civic participation and institutional accountability.
The High Court has recognized this municipal strategy as aligning squarely with its environmental mandate. Without mandating action, the bench expressed the judiciary’s approval by highlighting that municipal corporations bear a duty under state law to facilitate sustainable alternatives and reduce plastic waste. The reliance on automated dispensing systems brings eco-conscious behavior within reach, particularly for pilgrims and shoppers who might otherwise default to single-use plastics. The Court noted that financial models including micro-payments and CSR partnerships make such solutions viable even in lower-income community segments.
Further, the Court observed that civic bodies should not merely penalize plastic use, but provide accessible substitutes. It cited analogous examples from other states—including municipal ventures in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, and Gurugram—where cloth bag vending kiosks and reverse vending machines had spurred measurable behavioral change. Gujarat’s early data indicating thousands recycled bottles and cloth bags distributed was seen as validation of this approach.
The court emphasized that municipal agencies have dual responsibility: to enforce bans on plastic usage and simultaneously create infrastructure that encourages eco-friendly practices. This balanced approach ensures that public policy does not impoverish choice, but rather incentivizes sustainable alternatives through convenience, affordability, and social signaling. Judicial endorsement was particularly strong regarding temple installations, given the dense footfall and cultural symbolism of pilgrimage sites—a place where plastic suppression and clean spiritual spaces go hand in hand.
While the initiative remains voluntary, the Court encouraged local bodies to consider extensive rollouts across marketplaces, transport nodes, and educational institutions. It also suggested exploring durable partnerships with local NGOs, women’s self-help groups, and CSR-financed community operations for manufacturing, stocking, and maintaining vending machines. Such decentralized models offer both economic opportunity and environmental benefit, making sustainability a shared civic mission rather than a top-down decree.
In its concluding remarks, the bench reinforced a broader constitutional ethos: municipal functions must advance not just sanitation and licensing, but also public welfare through preventive measures—especially when addressing public health, environmental preservation, and ecological balance. By framing cloth bag vending as not merely a convenience but a civic obligation, the High Court underscored that legal frameworks should complement environmental activism.
In summary, the Gujarat High Court warmly received the fabric-bag vending initiative as a responsible, innovative, and community-oriented response to plastic pollution. While it stopped short of issuing mandates, the judicial endorsement signals to municipal authorities that proactive steps in sustainable infrastructure harmonize with constitutional duties—and represent a model of civic governance well aligned with state environmental policy and societal benefit.
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