Daily Times

Sir: The adamant insistence of the provincial governments in using non-recyclable and synthetic packaging to store food grains is regrettable. Even countries like India and Bangladesh have discontinued its usage to gain green credit for their respective countries. A large number of polypropylene bags are procured every year by the Punjab and Sindh governments. The findings of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and warnings from various environmentalists have been utterly ignored in the acquisition process. Not only do synthetic bags, containing deadly elements such as lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, zinc and nickel spoil the grains, they also contaminate them. These poisonous elements could cause skin reactions and damage human health otherwise.
The government is therefore requested to intervene in the procurement process and legislate to make environmental- and human-friendly packaging mandatory for food storage.

Abu Bakar ?KAREEM
Karachi