and small vendors either switched to paper bags or forced buyers to come with their cloth or jute bags in the initial few weeks but implementation of the ban later got derailedthe ban on plastic is not effective on the ground at all either the government could not strictly enforce it or people could not make behavioural changes said pradhan parth sarth dean school of earth biological and environmental science central university of south biharchallenging areasaccording to experts lack of affordable alternatives and effective localised implementation of the plastic ban are some of the major challengesidentification of locally affordable and environmentally sustainable alternatives is necessary with the ban taking away a less expensive commodity sup alternatives chosen to replace it need to match its price country head of united nations environment programme unep atul bagai told toiway forwardmahatma gandhi once said be the change you wish to see in the world this seems to be the common notion of all stakeholders in suggesting effective implementation of plastic banshashi darshan coordinator at tarumitra friends of trees who also works for spreading awareness on waste management is of the view that plastic is more a human behaviour problem than an environmental problemwe have been engaging youth and students of various schools to ensure whatever plastic comes to our home must not be let into the environment he saidpeoples awareness is of utmost importance as plastic has found usage in almost all spheres of human activities said shashi bhushan prasad additional director urban development and housing departmentplastic pollution could reduce by 80 by 2040 if countries and companies make deep policies according to a latest report by unep