Polythene ban far from effective in the city

The drive to enforce the ban on the use of polythene bags and polystyrene items in the city is far from achieving its desired result as the small traders are still using the banned bags to pack the items they sell. However, the big traders have started to use cloth bags or paper bags.                   

When asked why they are still clinging to the polythene bags despite the ban, the small businessmen trading in the Clock Tower area said that there is no alternative for them. “The polythene bags are much cheaper than cloth bags,” said one of them. Another said that the buyers are yet to develop the habit of bringing their own bags. “They demand the items they buy to be packed in bags and we are perforce packing them in the bags now banned. We have hardly any option,” he said. Asked how they can escape penalty if found defying the ban, they said that the teams generally confine their drive to the vegetable vendors. “They rarely come to the shops. However, some of us have been slapped with the fines,” said a shop owner.  

An activist Somiya Prasad said, “The ban should be enforced properly. It involves many issues like health. Besides, the drains get clogged during the rain.”             

The municipal corporation officers, however, claimed that the drive to enforce the ban, now going on in full swing, is achieving the desired result. “We have now started to make those who defy the ban to pay fines. Things are going fine and the result is for all to see,” said a senior civic body officer.   

Speaking of the matter, the municipal commissioner Vijay Kumar Jogdande said, “Aside from seizing the banner materials, we are slapping fines on those who defy the ban. The drive would continue.”