The government has imposed a complete ban on the import, production and use of plastic flower garlands and bouquets. However, in August and September alone, 28,685 kg of plastic garlands worth 92,18,000 have entered Nepal which is 13 thousand 200 kg more than the previous months.
According to the Environment Protection Act, the Ministry of Forests and Environment had published a notice to put a ban on the production, import, sale, distribution and storage of plastic flower bouquets.
In the first month when the government imposed the ban, 15,441 kilos of such garlands worth Rs 5,676,000 were imported into Nepal.
The customs department has expressed ignorance about the importation of flowers. Punya Bikram Khadka, information officer of the department, said that this may have happened due to lack of information coordination between the gazette information and the customs offices.
JB Tamang, program coordinator of Floriculture Association Nepal, says that it is sad that the law implemented by the government is not accepted by the government agencies so that the Nepali flower traders will suffer along with the environment.
On the eve of Tihar, the association has also demanded that the import should be stopped immediately, saying that it is wrong to import the goods banned by the government.
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