PUNE: Suresh Jagtap, PMC’s solid waste management head, admitted on Saturday that plastic carry bags and allied products will take about half a year to be completely replaced by their alternatives.
Jagtap made this admission at a town hall-styled meeting with the Kalyaninagar Residents’ Association (KNRA). “The replacement products for the banned items will not keep up pace with the demand for a few months. A few companies as well as self-help groups are working hard in this regard. Their products are available at a reasonable rate. It will probably take about five to six months for the demand and supply issues to ease out,” Jagtap said.
Local MLA Jagdish Mulik as well as Yogesh Mulik, standing committee chairman of PMC, were present at the meeting where the former strongly pitched for the blanket ban on plastics for the benefit of future generations.
Local residents, including businesspersons, however, were not in agreement. “We need more clarity on the plastic items, which have been kept outside the purview of the order. We also want to know the manner in which they are being disposed of. This is the reason we invited Jagtap to answer our questions,”
Naushad Furniturewalla, KNRA chairman, said.
Jagtap gave a presentation on the items kept in and out of the ban purview and the associated penalty for rule violators. A local resident, however, said people from economically weaker sections of the society may not have the means to buy the alternatives or pay Rs 5,000 in fine. “The rule is there to act as a deterrent, much like steep fines for the traffic rules. If there is a case of an individual being unable to pay the fine, we will make a note of that as well and submit the details to the court,” Jagtap said.
Asked about the practicality of removing the usage of plastics from industries like that of packaging meat or poultry, he asked, “How did people function 25 years ago?” Ironically, plastic was in vogue 25 years ago as well.
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