There is no pressure from the Gujarat government or the plastic manufacturers’ lobby there against Maharashtra’s ban on many plastic items, said State Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam . He said it was true that 80% of plastic coming into the State was being smuggled in from Gujarat, but no instruction has been given to him by either the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“The CM hasn’t told me ‘do this’ or ‘don’t do this’. If we find anyone bringing in plastic from Gujarat or smuggling it in violation of our new law, action will be taken against them including jail for three months,” Mr. Kadam said on Friday.
Earlier this month, Mr. Kadam, a Shiv Sena MLA, had sought to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi hadn’t ensured a ban on plastic in Gujarat. “When Mr. Modi can talk environment protection on Mann Ki Baat, why can’t he stop production of plastic in his home State?”
Denying rumours that Mr. Fadnavis had asked him to ‘water down’ the ban, Mr. Kadam said the CM was the driving force behind the decision.
He said, “There is no pressure on me to act in a certain way in this process. That plastic was being smuggled in from Gujarat in the past is a fact.”