Source : The Hindu Date : 26.06.2009
Deadline for ban on plastic put off
Staff Reporter
PUDUCHERRY: Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam on Thursday evening said that the government had decided to put off the ban on plastic items in the Union Territory from July 1 to September 1. The delay in implementation was owing to administrative reasons, he told The Hindu.
Protest rally
Earlier in the day, plastic manufacturers and traders from all over Puducherry and Tamil Nadu came together to demand the withdrawal of the proposed ban on plastic.
Over 5,000 members of plastic manufacturers’ and traders’ associations took out a protest rally from the Anglo French Textiles Ground to the Assembly, where they presented a memorandum to Mr. Vaithilingam.
President of the All Puducherry Plastic Traders’ and Manufacturers’ Association (APPTMA) S. Babu said that the memorandum demanded implementation of the Municipal Solid Wastes Management Rules, 2000.
“We have also urged the government to provide us land to set up a central plastic recycling plant, that will prove to be viable and profitable to the government,” Mr. Babu said.
While only plastics of thickness below 20 microns were banned in other parts of India, Puducherry was planning to ban plastic items such as bags and cups irrespective of thickness.
“In the presence of the Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage (Amendment) Rules, 2003, of the Union government, a State-level ban on plastics is not necessary. There would be no plastic waste if the Municipal Solid Wastes Management Rules, 2000, were implemented,” he said.
