Chandigarh: Single-use plastic costs 8 traders dear

Chandigarh, March 14

The use of single-use plastic has cost eight shopkeepers dear as directions have been issued to disconnect their electric supply and seal the units.

To curb the pollution caused by single-use plastic, the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) has initiated strict action against the violators for using banned single-use plastic products in the city.

Under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, the CPCC issued directions to the authorities concerned to disconnect the electric supply and seal eight shops located in different areas of the city.

The violators induce M/s Chawla Trading Co./Chawla & Sons, Shop No. 16, Grain Market, Sector 26, Chandigarh, M/s RK Traders, Shop No. 14, Gadda Shed, Sabzi Mandi, Sector 26, M/s Uncle Jacks, Booth No. 11, Sector 8-B, Ranbir Singh, s/o Satnam Singh, Booth No. 11 & 12, Sector 19-D, Ramesh Kumar, Booth No. 118, Sector 9, Ajay Kumar/Raghav Mehta, Booth No. 68, Sector 8-B, Amrit Dairy, Shop No. 84, Sector 15-D, and Kamlesh Chahel/Uma Shanker, SCO No. 23, Sector 10-D, Chandigarh.

In September 2019, the UT Administration issued a notification to ban the use, storage, distribution and sale of single-use plastic items, including cutlery, thermocol or styrofoam cutlery, containers, sealed drinking water glasses, single-use razors, single-use pens, thermocol for decoration purpose and plastic material for decoration purpose such as wrapping sheets, frills, garland, confetti and plastic ribbons, and violators were to pay environment compensation or plastic challan.

Debendra Dalai, Member Secretary, CPCC, said show-cause notices were issued to 31 shops for violating the provisions of the notification under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, by not depositing the environmental compensation/plastic challan.

In response, except eight, the remaining units deposited the challan amount, he said.

In the first week of December last year, the CPCC had decided to initiate legal action against over 800 defaulters who had failed to deposit the challan amount. After the show-cause notices were issued, most of them deposited the challan amount, but eight shopkeepers failed to do so.