PATNA: Use of plastic bags and sheets of any size and thickness will be banned in urban areas of the state with only three exceptions from Friday.Violation of the ban will attract penalties ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 500 in case of households and Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 in case of those littering public places, such as parks and commercial hubs, with plastic bags. The penalties will be realised from the violators from December 23 onwards.The state urban development and housing department has asked authorities concerned in all 38 districts to form city squads or task forces as well as district level monitoring committees for ensuring strict implementation of the ban.The state government has, however, allowed use of plastic bags with thickness of more than 50 microns for bio-medical purposes, dairy products and plantation activities. In rural areas, plastic bags will be banned from January 14. Bihar State Pollution Control Board chairman Ashok Ghosh said single-use plastic and thermocol products, such as disposable cups, plates, spoons, glasses and straws, would also be banned in near future.“Since a blanket ban on plastic was not feasible, the state government decided to start with banning plastic bags and sheets in the first stage. The ban will be extended to all single-use plastic products in the next phase,” Ghosh told TOI on Thursday.He added, “Plastic is a non-biodegradable material which causes land and water pollution. The plastic particles, after breaking into tiny particles (micro plastic), enter into human body as people consume groundwater contaminated with plastic. This severely affects people’s health and even leads to the deadly cancer disease.”Taking suo motu cognizance of a news report on June 23 this year about pollution in a pond on the premises of the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya , the Patna high court had on August 27 asked the government to enact a law to ban plastic in the state.The state environment, forest and climate change department had issued a notification on October 15 this year, banning manufacture, import, distribution, sale and transportation of plastic carry bags in urban areas from December 14.