Confusion over ban on single-use plastic

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 1

Confusion prevails over ban on single-use plastic items among the public as well as officials. The Environment Department of the UT Administration issued a notification regarding the ban recently.

Neither the residents nor officials are aware about the fine amount and the things that actually fall under the ban. Enforcement officials concerned themselves are not clear what will be the challan amount as per the new notification. Four days after the notification was issued, no checks on ban or awareness drives have been launched till now.

The officials concerned said the ban on this category was already there and its fine was Rs 5,000. However, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on the topic, the new notification was prepared and has further strengthened the drive. It has also increased the fine to up to Rs 1 lakh, along with a jail term of up to five years.

In the absence of proper checks or awareness, the banned items are openly sold and used in the city.

“What alternative are they giving to people? About 60-70 per cent items already come packed in plastic in the market. They should involve citizen associations for awareness. There is also a need to form an effective committee of different departments to launch coordinated awareness and enforcement drives. They can also start a WhatsApp number where residents can post pictures of violations,” said RK Garg, a city-based RTI activist.

Baljinder Singh Bittu, Chairman of the Federation of Sectors Welfare Association Chandigarh (FOSWAC), said, “They themselves are not aware of what is banned and what is not. Is there a ban on cold drink or water bottle? If not, then do they only want to challan a rehriwala? Where big players are involved, they lack the courage to do the right thing. They should not burden public unnecessarily. The ban should focus on producers of plastic and not public. The ban is only on papers and plastic is sold in markets openly.”

MC’s Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr Amrit Warring said, “We have not yet started challaning on single-use plastic. We are yet to get clarity on fine amount. However, we have been issuing about 400-500 challans of Rs 5,000 for polythene bag use every month.”

Debendra Dalai, Director, Environment, said, “We will hold a training camp for all officers to tell them about what all is banned and how much can be the amount of the challan. Till Diwali, we will hold awareness drives, after that we will start challaning.”

However, residents wonder why the notification has been issued in advance when there is no awareness about it to people as well as officials.

Workshop on ill-effects of plastic at PGIMER

Chandigarh: The Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, in collaboration with State Bank of India, organised a workshop against the use of plastic at Indira Colony. People were sensitised on how to decrease the use of plastic in their day-to-day life. They were told that how eating or serving food or beverages in plastic cutlery was responsible for generating so much waste. — TNS