The Hindu 18.01.2012
Plastic carry bag back with a ‘ban’g in Coimbatore
Menace returns:Plastic carry bags have resurfaced in Coimbatore.— PHOTO: S.SIVA SARAVANAN.
After carrying out anti-plastic bag drive in May and
June last year, the Coimbatore Corporation seems to have taken it easy.
Sources in the Corporation say that the officials who are supposed to
have taken forward the drive have been asked to focus on waste
management in added areas.
Contrast the position with
May-June 2011. Corporation officials, armed with the new mandate under
Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rule 2011, went after traders
and retails asking them to stop use of plastic bags less than 40
microns.
They asked the traders and retailers to
ensure that the 40 micron-plus bags they used carried the name and
address of the manufacturer and warned of seizure and penal action for
violating the provision. They also asked the manufacturers to ensure
that the bags they manufactured had their name and address.
The
punishment the Corporation promised to mete out was fine Rs. 1 lakh
and/or imprisonment up to five years. The warning and anti-plastics
drive yielded results with the Corporation officials seizing nearly
5,000 kg bags in the two months.
Seven months down
the line, the Corporation has initiated very little follow-up measures.
The traders do not know how much to charge for plastic bags from those
who do not carry one, as the Corporation has not made any announcements
in this regard, says T. Parthiban of Coimbatore Plastic Traders and
Manufacturers Association.
Enquiries with the Corporation sources say that the civic body is yet to pass the relevant resolution in this regard.
The
return of plastic carry bags on the roads is affecting the environment,
laments C.R. Jayaprakash, Executive Committee Member, Nilgris Wildlife
and Environment Association. The bags first choke the canals that take
water into the city’s tanks. This results in inundation of low-lying
areas. Then the tanks get polluted.
Senior Corporation officials were unavailable for comment.
Seven months down the line, the Corporation has initiated very little follow-up measures
