Using a plastic bag in Quetta will now land you in trouble. The district administration of the city, along with the Balochistan environment department, has decided to crack down against single-use plastic bags. “The increasing use of plastic bags poses a grave threat to the environment,” Environment Secretary Saboor Kakkar said. “These bags get stuck in the sewerage lines disrupting the system of cleanliness in the city.” He said that shopkeepers across the city have been instructed to destroy their stocks of plastic bags and instead use biodegradable ones. “Violaters will be punished and fined.” The development was welcomed by the people of Quetta. They have, however, demanded that the government provide them an alternative to plastic bags. In 2020, a ban was imposed on the use and sale of polythene bags across Quetta. To be biodegradable means that a substance is capable of being decomposed by bacteria and other living organisms and does not create pollution. Basically, it’s absorbed into the environment. Ordinary plastic, on the other hand, doesn’t get degraded and stays for years and years, creating pollution and health hazards for living things.