Indian Express 20.01.2010
Soon, BMC markets to go ‘plastic-free’
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to make its markets ‘plastic-free’ in a bid to encourage ban on plastic bags. The civic body wants buyers in its 92 markets across the city to turn to paper and cloth bags.
The BMC will employ women from local self help groups to manufacture paper and cloth bags that will be available for sale at the municipal markets. Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said that they expect citizens to purchase these bags and slowly stop using plastic bags. Individual vendors in these markets will stop giving plastic bags thinner than 50 microns.
“When a person buys a cloth bag, he will have a tendency to reuse it and stop asking for plastic bags all together. We are looking at this campaign as a habit-inducing exercise,” said Mhaiskar. The campaign will kickstart on January 26 in two municipal markets, Mhaiskar added.
The decision comes in the wake of the recent proposal of the mayor to completely ban the use of plastic bags in the city. At present, there is a ban on plastic bags thinner than 50 microns according to the Maharahstra Non-biodegradable Garbage Control Act, as they clog drains and are not environmentally sustainable. The mayor had, however, pulled up the administration for its inability to implement the ban and had asked for a blanket ban on all plastic bags.
The administration had stated that the proposal to completely ban plastic will have to be studied and be implemented in phases. It had promised to implement the current ban and crack down on users of plastic bags thinner than 50 microns.
“The transition from plastic to no plastic will be a slow one and we will first need to make alternatives available to citizens. Therefore, we will exercise the ban in our municipal markets on pilot basis,” said Mhaiskar.
