Urban News

The Hindu 12.07.2009

Sheila Govt. firm on plastic bag ban

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Days after Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh spoke against the ban on plastic bags, the Delhi Government has taken a strong stand supporting the ban and has decided to intensify its drive to ‘clean-out’ plastic bags from the city.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and attended by officials of the Delhi Government and civic agencies on Saturday.

“The change over to jute, cloth and recycled paper bags has to happen and we have given ample time to the people to get used to the idea. It is now time that we get serious and we have decided to intensify the campaign against the use of plastic in the city. We have also decided to put pressure on plastic bag manufacturing units to adhere to norms and also look at recycling plastic. Departments have been asked to involve educational institutions in creating awareness against plastic bags,” said Ms. Dikshit.

She added that instructions have also been issued to Environment Department and civic agencies to intensify their drive to enforce the ban on plastic bags.

“We are aware of the fact that there are several small illegal plastic bag manufacturing units operating in the city that don’t adhere to the norms. We will be taking action against these industries. The idea is not to take away anybody’s source of income but to tell them that the ban is for the larger good in the long run and they need to be part of this makeover. My Government is determined to enforce the ban,” she added.

Meanwhile, nearly six months after the ban on the use of plastic was brought in, the Delhi Government on Friday imposed challans for the first time for violating the ban. The challans were issued against 10 shop owners in a few malls in Rajouri Garden of West Delhi. If proved guilty, the violators can face fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh or five years imprisonment as per notification issued by the Delhi Government in January following a High Court order.

A senior official with the Delhi Pollution Control Board said: “We have challaned 10 people on Friday for violating the ban and hope that the message reaches everyone that we are serious about enforcing the ban.”

The Delhi Government had banned the use of plastic bags in all markets, hotels, restaurants besides other commercial establishments in January this year.

The gazette notification allows the use of plastic bags of 40 microns thickness or more. However, the Government had said that even this would be discouraged.

The Hindu 12.07.2009

Rain-related damage in Udupi put at Rs. 29 cr.

Staff Correspondent

GEARING UP: Members of the National Disaster Response Force unit who arrived in Udupi on Saturday conducting a drill at Kalmady near Malpe.

Uudpi: Home Minister V.S. Acharya said on Saturday that the damage to life and property owing to rainfall in Udupi district had been estimated at Rs. 29 crore.

Addressing presspersons after a meeting with district-level officials here Dr. Acharya said that lightning had killed two persons and two others were drowned in floods in the last 10 days. Sea erosion had been reported from places such as Udyavara and Padukere villages. As many as 64 villages had been affected. The Udyavara-Padukere concrete road had been damaged, he said.

Various department in the district suffered losses owing to the rainfall. The Public Works Department suffered a loss worth Rs. 11.19 crore followed by Udupi City Municipal Council Rs. 2.89 crore; Kundapur Town Municipal Council Rs. 1.05 crore, Kundapur Panchayat Raj Rs. 2 crore; Zilla Panchayat Engineering Department Rs. 8.15 crore; Mescom Rs. 59 lakh; agriculture Rs. 27 lakh; minor irrigation Rs. 89 lakh; revenue Rs. 57 lakh; National Highways Authority Rs. 50 lakh; abd Karkala Town Municipal Council Rs. 51.5 lakh.

Roads in the district had been seriously damaged owing to monsoon, he said and added that the authorities concerned had been told to take up immediate steps to repair the roads and not wait till September for the monsoon to end as was normally being done. The Government would be urged to provide Rs. 10 crore for repair of roads, Dr. Acharya said.

An 89-member unit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had arrived in the district to help the administration in tackling any emergency arising out of heavy rainfall. The State Government had requested the Prime Minister’s Office to station two units of the NDRF permanently in the State, one each at Udupi and Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district, to deal with exigencies, he said.

The district administration had been asked to provide a permanent building to store equipment such as boats and ropes to take up rescue operations in case of emergencies, he said.

In response to a question, Dr. Acharya said that the people from 10 districts and the neighbouring State of Kerala were involved in a pitched battle with the police a few days ago in Mysore. It was a wilful violation of prohibitory orders that had been clamped there to precipitate the situation. A daily report on the situation in Mysore was being sent to the Union Government, he said.

MLAs Lalaji Mendon and Raghupati Bhat, in-charge Deputy Commissioner Prasanna Kumar and Superintendent of Police Pravin Pawar were present.

Dr. Acharya handed over a compensation cheque to the parents of Rajashri (24), who had drowned in a rivulet at Manipura village. Later, he visited flood-affected areas here.

Two houses damaged

Two houses were partially damaged owing to rains in Udupi district on Saturday.

According to Kundapur taluk office, a house was partially damaged at Shedimane village and the loss was estimated at Rs. 5,000. The Karkala taluk office sources stated that a house was partially damaged at Kantawar village and the loss had been put at Rs. 3,500.

Rainfall

Rainfall in the district has receded significantly. The district received an average rainfall of 30.46 mm. The rainfall in the three taluks was: Udupi – 56.8 mm; Kundapur 9.2 mm; and Karkala – 25.4 mm.