Use of single-use plastic continues unabated

Three years after the country-wide ban on single-use plastic came into force under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2021, a concerning trend has been observed in Gurugram.

Shopkeepers and vendors across various market areas are still using polythene bags, plastic glasses, spoons, straws, and other plastic items that are banned under the regulations.

In the past 10 days, the sanitation security force (SSF) of the Municipal Corporation (MC), Gurugram, has raided several markets in the city and found that many shopkeepers continue to use banned plastic bags. Despite the efforts to curb plastic usage, it seems enforcement and compliance remain an ongoing challenge.

The SSF teams issued challans to 349 shopkeepers who were using polythene bags. They also imposed a fine of Rs 3.5 lakh on these errant shopkeepers.

Last week, a team of the MC seized 425 kg of banned plastic, which was being loaded in an auto for supply to the retail shopkeepers and vendors. A fine of Rs 25,000 was imposed on the driver of the auto by the civic body.

Market areas, comprising fruit and vegetable vendors, grocery shops in the village areas falling under the MC limits and street vendors selling food items in the crowded areas, are openly using polythene bags.

Shops in the sadar bazaar, Jharsa, Badshahpur, near the Shetla Mata Mandir, Sikandarpur, Jal Vihar Colony, Kanhai, Khandsa and other areas of the Gurugram city that are openly selling the banned polythene bags and other plastic items to the retail shopkeepers and vendors.

Virendra Yadav, who owns a shop in Sector 46, said the MC should stop the wholesale traders engaged in selling banned polythene bags and other plastic items instead of imposing fines on petty vendors. “The ban should be on manufacturing units and wholesale business of the banned plastic items”, he said.

Rehan, a vegetable seller, said. “It is out of compulsion that we keep polythene bags for selling vegetables to earn money and make both ends meet.”

A shopkeeper from the Sadar Bazar area, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that over 200 wholesale traders in Gurugram are involved in the illegal supply of banned plastic items.

Meanwhile, MC chief Ashok Kumar Garg has appealed to the traders and citizens to stop using single-use banned plastic and adopt environment-friendly alternatives.