Bengaluru: Civic body seizes 1,335kg banned plastic in four days

BENGALURU: In the last four days, BBMP raided 559 shops and 439 street vendors, and confiscated 1,335kg of banned plastic. The officials have levied a fine of Rs 4.4 lakh on offenders.
Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun, deputy mayor Bhadre Gowda and special commissioner D Randeep are heading teams of health inspectors and steering the anti-plastic operations across the city. The move comes in the wake of reports that single-use plastic is entering the city from neighbouring states.
“We’ve been raiding over a hundred stores every day across different zones, but have been unable to completely root out plastic,” Randeep admitted.
“We’ve got information about plastic entering the city from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh among others,” said officials.
The officials are distributing pamphlets to spread awareness among vendors to stop selling plastic. “People also must work towards a plastic-free city. Raids can only be a short-term measure. Users need to say no to plastic,” Randeep added.
A concept like BYOB — Bring Your Own Bag — needs to be enforced among people, said the mayor. “People should use only cloth bags or carry their own baskets and bags, like in olden days instead of depending on plastic,” she added.
BBMP will soon penalise vendors selling plastic cutlery like cups, paper plates covered with plastic sheets among others. “We’ve allowed them to sell cutlery until we find alternative options for them,” Randeep said.
Odette Katrak, co-founder of Beautiful Bengaluru, said: “The source of entry of banned items must also be sealed. Every one needs to understand that accepting a plastic bag (or any banned item) is wrong. I hope the day comes soon when carrying a plastic bag in public is a matter of shame, because it’s a public statement of low concern for the law as well as the planet,” Odette said.
Eco-friendly mela
BBMP plans to give the anti-plastic campaign a carnivalesque touch. Ravikumar Surpur, special commissioner (projects), said the civic body will hold a fair to encourage NGOs and other organizations which are working to reduce plastic consumption in the city. “The NGOs will set up stalls and sell their recyclable products like paper bags, cloth bags, wooden cutlery among others,” Surpur added.