The demand for the traditional yellow cloth bag in Tamil Nadu that has been a landmark for the businessmen and ordinary people of the state is making a major comeback.

Chief Minister M K Stalin has inaugurated a scheme ‘Meendum Manjappai’ aimed at reducing the use of plastic bags and promoting cloth bags.

The cloth bag-making units of Pudukottai, Kancheepuram, Salem, Erode, and Dindigul have become vibrant with orders pouring in from wholesale and retail traders across the state.

Several programmes and events in the state have also turned to using cloth bags instead of plastic bags and many major shops of the state have given orders to the units making cloth bags, especially yellow bags.

Rajeswari, a women entrepreneur from Coimbatore, who has been in the business of cloth bags for the past one decade while speaking to IANS said: “Business was not doing good since the start but the announcement of the Chief Minister has made things change and I have got several orders for weddings and from wholesale and retail market of Coimbatore. I don’t know how I am going to meet up the demand and for that, I might add one or two extra units for the production. This is good news for environment as well as putting an end to the use and throw culture which had never the social support of Tamil people.”

Many major cloth shops and textile majors are also shifting their priorities to cloth and jute bags instead of plastic bags.

Nallathambi Velayudhan, who is running a jute bag-making unit in Erode while speaking to IANS said: “The Chief Minister’s announcement is accepted well by the society and the orders we are getting from unexpected quarters is a clear indicator to that. Jute and cloth bags are turning the tide in Tamil Nadu and we feel that this is important for the conservation of environment as well as for promotion of cloth and jute bags.”

The government is also roping in the service of several NGOs to create awareness of using cloth and jute bags instead of plastic throw-away bags and the necessity to preserve the environment as studies have revealed that plastic bags take centuries to decay and how dangerous it was for the environment.

S Santosh, who is heading the Environment department of Centre for Policy and Development Studies, a think tank and a research centre based out of Chennai while speaking to IANS said: “We have already conducted three rounds of meeting with the state environment department and will soon undertake a campaign across the state against the use of plastic carry bags and how dangerous it was for our environment.”