Government may penalise traders violating plastics ban

A meeting has been organised at the State secretariat where the Chief Minister, officials from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and Chennai Corporation would discuss the magnitude of penalty, a Greater Chennai Corporation source said. “It is most likely that the meeting would fix penalty rates. Penalising is the only way to the effective enforcement of the ban,” the source added.

It is learnt that the Chennai Corporation had already written to the government seeking approval to penalise the traders and users based on the central government’s plastic waste management rules.

On the other hand, the continuous seizure of banned items from the city shops suggests that the much-hyped plastics ban imposed by the State from January 1 has turned to be a damp squib. “Though many shops insist us to take our own bag to buy groceries, a vegetable shop in a locality still gives plastic carry bags,” M Senthil Kumar, a resident of Choolaimedu, said.

From January 1 to January 31, the civic officials had seized more than 88 tonnes of banned plastic items from shops. On Friday evening, officials attached to Kodambakkam Zone had raided 42 shops in Ranganathan Street in T Nagar and seized 3.85 tonnes of banned plastic.

Meanwhile, the officials of the civic body have been asked to intensify the raids in the shops across the city, especially the popular retail outlets. “On Sunday, senior officials will directly oversee the plastic raids,” the source said.

However, a resident welfare association blamed the lack of a proper plan by the government in implementing the ban. “The government should have banned the production of plastic once it decided to impose the ban. Allowing manufacturing till the last date resulted in procuring the plastic items in huge quantity and hoarding,” V S Jayaraman of T Nagar Welfare Association said.