BMC action against violators

BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday launched a crackdown on vendors and shopkeepers in various parts of the City for using polythene bags and collected `20,000 fine from them. 

The civic body’s enforcement squad conducted raids at VSS Nagar, Rajmahal, Chandrasekharpur, Patia and Master Canteen square and seized around 20 kg of plastic carry bags from the vendors. The BMC move came after it faced flak over poor enforcement of plastic ban which came into effect in the City from October last year. 

Two days back, The Express had reported that though BMC seized around 80 kg of polythene bags from violators, it did not penalise them. BMC officials said, “The enforcement drive will continue throughout the month in different parts of the City. Any vendor or shopkeeper violating the ban will be penalised under Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.”