The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed the Delhi government to give effect to the Delhi Plastic Bags (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act immediately banning non biodegradable plastic bags in the capital.

A Division Bench of Justice M K Sharma and Justice Reva Khetrapal said either the state should notify the act or specify the reasons for not implementing the act for the past three years in an affidavit by May 17, the next date of hearing.

The court also asked the Centre to consider the suggestion of the Central Pollution Control Board to recycle the used plastic bags as material in road construction.

The CPCB had asked Jadhavpur University and the Thyagraj Engineering College of Madurai to study the re-usability of the plastic bags.

The study had suggested that the used plastic bags could be used for construction of the top layer of the road.

The court also asked the Election Commission to state in an affidavit the reasons for banning use of plastic banners and flags by candidates in the ensuing Assembly election in West Bengal.

The Bench asked the Union government to suggest, in an affidavit, the ban of plastic bags and implementation of bio-degradable plastic all over the country.

The amendment in the Delhi Plastic Bags (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 2003, had made it mandatory for five-star hotels, restaurants with 100 seats and hospitals with 100 beds in Delhi to use only bio-degradable plastic bags.