With usage of plastics less than 40 microns thickness on
the rise creating a cascading effect on the environment, the City
Municipal Corporation has intensified its drive against it.

As
part of curbing the manufacturing and sale of plastics, health
officials in all the four zones began inspecting the plastic production
units, wholesalers, and retailers in the market areas.

Officials
said that gauge meters were used to check the thickness of the plastics
and shopkeepers were warned of action besides seizing the banned items.

“If
they continue to sell the banned items, they would be fined according
to the provisions of the law,” the officials said. Officials seized more
than 750 kg plastic bags in raids carried out on Monday and Tuesday.

Of the total 300 tonnes waste the civic body collects, more than 5 per cent is plastics.

An
awareness will be created among people against the use plastic bags,
plastic coated plates, plastic cups, and other plastic items. These
plastic items choke the flow of sewage and create sanitation problems.

Hence people should desist from using plastics with less than 40 microns thickness, the officials said.

Though
the corporation enforced the ban on plastics from January 2013, lack of
awareness among the producers and consumers and poor monitoring led to
ineffective implementation. Officials said that manufactures would be
sensitised to the health implication of using plastic bags so that the
production could be curbed.