Yuva Sena president Aaditya Thackeray, who is believed to be the prime mover behind the plastic ban in Maharashtra, today justified the measure for the sake of environment. Aaditya, son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, also apologised to the people for the hardships being faced by them in the wake of the ban on single-use plastic.

"We should think whether not carrying plastic bags is important or preventing plastic from choking gutters is important. I apologise for the hardships but the ban is necessary to protect our future generations. There is so much plastic in the sea and rivers that it is also found in the stomach of fish we eat," Aaditya told reporters at Mantralaya in south Mumbai.