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Mumbai: ‘Crack down on manufacturers, not end users’
Updated On: 23 August, 2023 07:14 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
As city begins annual drive against plastic use, activists and experts call out lack of focus on root-cause of the problem
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Plastic bags with a weight of less than 60 GSM are banned. File Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Activists and environment experts have flayed the BMC for targeting the end users of banned plastic bags (hawkers and consumers) instead of getting to the root cause of the problem. They have asserted that action should be taken against manufacturers instead, but the civic administration has been turning a blind eye to their demands. As the civic body relaunched action against banned plastic bags and products this week, environmental activists and experts have called this the BMC’s annual knee-jerk action which does not yield any big results as the issue remains unaddressed.
The BMC, on Monday, started penalising shopkeepers and establishments once again for using plastic bags and products. Civic teams checked 1,159 establishments and found 59 cases of violations of the notification against single-use plastic bags. The teams seized 87 kg of single-use plastic items and collected Rs 2.95 lakh in fines, with a penalty of Rs 5,000 in each case. The penalty structure involves a Rs 5,000 fine for first-time offenders, followed by a Rs 10,000 fine for repeat offenders. For individuals who violate this prohibition for a third time, the penalty is set at Rs 25,000, along with a three-month prison term. However, activists who have been working for a ban on plastic for years are sceptical of the action taken by the BMC.
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