Tirupati welcomes ban on use of plastic

Tirupati: There was a roaring response from the denizens of Tirupati to the plastic ban which came into force on Tuesday.  As the ban message is yet to seep into public mind, people were seen still using plastic bags at Indira Priyadarsini Market and Sunnapu Veedi fruits market on day 1.  

At the same time at Rayala Cheruvu Rythu Bazar also retail vegetables vendors were seen using paper instead of plastic covers for selling leafy vegetables.  At Rythu Bazar, a resident of MR Palli Gundluru Venkata Ramana speaking to The Hans India said that in contrast to the earlier plastic ban, this time officials have given sufficient time of three months to adopt eco-friendly bags. People are at large turning to plastic alternatives. Ramana carried a cloth bag to purchase vegetables and fruits.

Across the city, many super stores, hotels, restaurants were seen using cloth bags, banana leaves, newspapers etc., to parcel food items.
At the same time a few hotels and fast food centers which were visited by the civic staff told them that they were only using up the leftover stocks of plastic covers and bags and that they would soon switch to non-plastic items.  

MCT officials have begun raids on traders, vendors and wholesale dealers across the city and cautioning those still using plastic bags to stop doing so.  Civic body officials at zonal as well as ward level were seen going around the city in their drive against use of plastic. They seized more than half a tonne plastic leftover materials from around 20 shops in the city.

Chamber of Commerce city president A Manjunath said that on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi occasion they distributed as many as 1,000 cloth bags to the people at subsidised rates at Avilala and Rythu Bazaar areas.

Taking stock of the implementation of plastic ban on the first day in the city, MCT Secretary Y Manohar said that, “gradually we are going to intensify the raids and conduct surprise checks on shops, hotels, fast food centers, chicken and mutton shops to ensure the plastic ban implementation.”