Health officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have begun spot inspections to ascertain if any plastic manufacturing units continue to function in the city.
Recently, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board sent a list of 37 plastic manufacturing units in the city to the BBMP, with a direction to ascertain if they continue to operate. The KSPCB had issued closure notices to these units.
According to health officials, of the 37 units, only 31 are under the BBMP’s limits, while the others lay on the city’s outskirts. Most units came under Dasarahalli zone (10), eight in Rajarajeshwarinagar zone, six in West, two in East and the remaining five are in the other zones.
A spot inspection revealed that 11 units were either closed or had changed their trade. Some of the units had started manufacturing threads and non-banned plastic items, such as packaging materials for industries.
Officials are yet to trace the addresses of nine units while inspection of the remaining units would be completed in a couple of days.
Senior officials said that the BBMP had requested the KSPCB to allow its regional officers to be part of the team conducting spot inspections. “However, this may take some time to fructify. We will have to keep a watch on such manufacturing units to ensure that banned plastic items do not gain entry into the market again,” the official said.
Over the past week, the civic body has been cracking down on plastic users, traders and vendors.
The Statewide ban on plastic items came into effect in March 2016, following which the BBMP issued a circular in May, fixing the penalty for manufacturing, supplying, storing, transporting, selling and distributing, and using the banned items. However, the enforcement of the same has not been satisfactory.
This was the contention of even Subhash B. Adi, head of the Karnataka Chapter of the National Green Tribunal. On Sunday, during a meeting with residents and welfare organisations of South zone, he directed Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun to ensure 100% implementation of the plastic ban by September 1.