People must cooperate to weed out plastics: CM

Replying to former minister and Alandur legislator TM Anbarasan, who said that the non-recyclable plastic is freely available in the market, the Chief Minister said that the state was doing its best to ban the plastic bags being sold in the market.

“Officials from revenue, local administration and environment departments are periodically inspecting the commercial hubs and markets to seize the banned plastic. Fines are imposed against traders involved in illegalities and action will continue against offenders,” the Chief Minister said.

Participating in the Assembly debate on grants for environment, Anbarasan also emphasised that the suburbs in Chennai have become an eyesore and unfit for Chennaites to live. “Outer areas of Tambaram suffer dust from illegal stone crushing quarries, the manufacturing hub Sriperumbudur, where auto major companies are located, suffer dumping of sewer and solid waste. The plastic and sewer waste dumped into the water bodies in Kancheepuram district had affected the ecology and the water bodies are turning into a breeding ground for mosquitoes and pigs,” the MLA said.

He added that there is no mechanism in place to dispose of the garbage generated across Tamil Nadu. “Similarly, Tirupur, the textile hub of the state is facing an accumulation of residue from treatment plants and the state has done nothing to cleanse the accumulated waste,” Anbarasan charged.

Environment Minister KC Karuppannan denied the charges. He said the recent inspections and field visits in Tirupur and Kancheepuram had proved that the sewage treatment plants are working. “The purifying units in Tirupur established at a cost of Rs 200 crore during the Amma regime is working and the charges levelled by DMK MLA are baseless.”

Local Administration Minister SP Velumani in his reply said that the state generates 19,000 tonnes of garbage daily and the same is treated and effectively handled by solid waste management departments and 63,000 sanitary inspectors.