Plastic ban goes for a toss

Vijayawada: Making mockery of ban, plastic bags are being used everywhere, causing health hazards to human and animals. Though the ban on thin plastic carry bags was effective since 2002, it was not successfully implemented, opines an official.

Highlights:

• Under 50 micron bags seen aplenty.
• Small business establishments and road side vendors admit they incur losses , if they use standard quality bags.

The extensive use of carry bags below stipulated 50 microns thickness, show gross violation of rules framed for people’s safety. The ban imposing authority, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), has booked 250 cases within a year.

Those selling and using carry bags (below 50 microns) have been penalised with fines ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 500.
K Mrunalini, a housewife, using above-50 microns carry bag to carry vegetables from Rytu Bazaar at PWD Grounds says, “The ban can be implemented successfully, if the officials ensure use of only plastic carry bags that were made as per standards. I knew the limitations of people, who cannot carry jute bags every time along with them. We are accustomed to plastic carry bags and there is no wrong using them, if they are made in strict conformity with rules.”

H Vishnu, a sanitation worker, sharing his experience, said that all eateries starting from push carts to hotels use nasty quality plastic bags. “Except those who use banana leaf to serve food, all others use poor quality thin plastic sheet to avoid food stick to the plate,” he shares.

M Srinu, who runs a small fancy shop, said he was asked by customers to give every purchased item from soap to soda bottle within a carry bag. “But I cannot afford above 50 micron carry bags as they are costly. Thousands of businessmen like me in the city use cheap quality carry bags, which cannot be recycled in next 100 years as my knowledge goes. But if I abide by the rules and use standard carry bags, I make loss in the business,” he admitted.

Dr M Gopi Naik chief medical officer of VMC said that apart from the efforts of the VMC, the imposition of ban could be easy, when government administration act tough against manufacturers and suppliers of poor quality carry bags.

By Noor Shaik