Amid series of raids, Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association has asked Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) under which act the civic body is destroying the goods of textile traders.
The federation's demand has come after the SMC had conducted a series of raids on textile businessmen and seized plastic bags from them. The association said that if traders are aware of the legal requirement, they will not violate the law. It has also sought a list of goods that are banned so that traders can comply accordingly.
In a letter to M Thennarasan, the commissioner of SMC, Champalal Bothara, the general secretary of FOSTTA said that plastic bags are used to pack the garments and to ensure there is no impact of weather on them and it doesn't have an adverse impact on health.
"We would like to draw your attention that the plastic bags used by textile traders of Surat are not the traditional thin – below 50 micron – bags. Entire stock is sold outside Surat and is 100 per cent recyclable. With such steps by the authorities, traders are confused. So we would like to tell us what is banned and what is not?"
Federation Voice Concern |
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| Plastic bags used by textile traders are not the traditional thin – below 50 micron – bag |
| Entire stock is sold outside Surat, 100 per cent recyclable |
| Assures that the bags used by textile traders won’t be found litter, unlike other plastic bags |
| Consignments are stranded and not shipped to the markets |
FOSTTA assured that the bags used by textile traders won't be found littered, unlike other plastic bags. Moreover, it also countered that the bags used by the sector are not banned by the government, neither do they hazardous for the environment nor pose any threat to the health of the masses. A meeting of textile traders was held on Thursday, near 2,000 shopkeepers selling packaging materials had put their shutters down as SMC officials are seizing the stocks of traders under the excuse that plastic has been banned.
"As a result, the consignments were stranded and were not shipped to the markets. We have sought a list of banned products from SMC, but so far no list has been provided," said a press statement from FOSTTA. SMC Commissioner M Thennarasan told DNA that it is very clear that plastic bags less than 50 micron and plastic materials for single-use are banned. He further said that meetings will be held with traders to clear the air.
"We already had a meeting with them earlier, will have it again in the future as well to explain things. We will also ensure handbills are been circulated to the businessmen," said Thennarasan.
He also clarified that enough warnings have been given to the traders to stop the use of plastics. "We had given sufficient time to them to comply to the regulations," he said.