Plastic ban: Makers of alternative products struggle to meet demand

While the Greater Chennai Corporation has been empowered to implement the plastic ban in the city, the plastic usage in Ripon Buildings continues unabated.

Many officials, who visited the civic body’s headquarters to wish their superiors on the first working day of 2019, brought fruits and sweets in plastic carry bags and non-woven polypropylene bags, on Wednesday. However, most of the officials apparently accepted the offerings without reprimanding their subordinates for using banned plastic bags.

“The officials should have conducted street-level awareness campaigns at least three months earlier. They themselves mock the government order by using plastic bags inside their offices,” V S Jayaraman of T Nagar Resident Welfare Association said.

When asked, a Chennai Corporation source said that the higher officials reminded their subordinates who carried the plastic bags and ordered them not to bring plastic inside the Ripon Buildings again. Meanwhile, the use of plastic continued across the city on the second day of the ban as many shopkeepers are unaware of the alternatives for plastic.

“Many residents are oblivious to the banned items and the official should educate them. When we contacted an official for clarification, he said that the residents could dump their plastic items at ward office rather than them collecting door-to-door,” Jayaraman added.

Vellore: Vellore corporation officials seized 1.50 tonnes of banned one-time use plastic items from all over the city on Wednesday. Local body officials warned that the shops found selling the banned products would be sealed. Meanwhile, a restaurant in Ranipet refused to give takeaway in plastic bags to a senior official of Ranipet municipality. When he repeatedly requested saying he was hungry, the hotel staff obliged just this once. Another hotel in Vellore sold only around 32 parcel meals, against the usual 250, as they refused to give food to anyone who came without necessary containers.

The upcoming Mylapore Festival aims to be more than just a rhapsody, as the organisers have gone the extra mile to promote plastic ban through campaigns. As a precursor to the event starting on January 10, the main organiser, Sundaram Finance, has handed out about 1,000 cloth bags to various vendors on Mada Streets to keep the celebration as plastic-free as possible.

S Sivakumar, Vice President, Sundaram Finance said, “Our team spoke to the vegetable, fruit, flower vendors and shops on Mada Streets about the use of alternatives to plastic bags, and encouraged them to explore and switch to such options. Our team went around and handed over environment-friendly cloth bags to vendors and shopkeepers, asking them to give it to their customers at the time of purchase. The team has also requested the shops to advise their customers to bring their own bag while shopping. We also spoke to the public in Mylapore to create awareness on the hazards of using plastic bags.”

The foundation for being environmental-friendly has already been laid by residents for the last few years, said K Viswanathan of the Mylapore Residents Welfare Association (MRWA). “While we have been insisting on keeping the area litter-free as part of our initiatives like ‘Kapaleecharam’ for many months now, the readiness of the residents, vendors and others from various walks of life has been heartening,” he said.

The wholesale flower vendors have shunned plastic covers the departmental stores in the area have begun distributing cloth bags. “These bags are priced at Rs 25 and can hold up to 15 kilos. The shops have also replaced plastic baskets with bamboo,” Pushpa M, another resident, said.

The office of Ward 123 has a collection point for plastics, said Viswanathan, adding that it solved the problems for those who want to deposit the extra plastic covers they have at their homes.

Tiruchy City Corporation officials on Wednesday conducted raids in Gandhi Market and Big Bazar Street and seized around 25 kg of banned plastic bags from the merchants. The corporation also collected a fine of Rs 5,900 on the first day of the inspection. With several merchants continuing to use the banned plastics, the officials said that inspection will continue at more locations in the coming days. “We had already conducted several awareness meetings regarding the banned plastics. But, we came to know that some of them are continuing to use it even after the ban. Therefore, we conducted the inspection and penalties were imposed on the offenders. The inspection will continue in the coming days at more locations,” a corporation official said.