Officials of the Science and Technology Department on
Thursday conducted a raid on a local plastic godown, where they found
banned plastic bags worth Rs. 10 lakh. The bags were all of 50 microns
or less in thickness.

The godown, which is located in
a residential area in T.V. Nagar, was raided after around 15 days of
tracking. Authorities have sealed the area and will be issuing a notice
to the owner on Friday, tahsildar M.S. Ramesh told
The Hindu
. This was the first raid and the department would conduct raids on
units that manufacture these bags. The department had identified
offenders in Puducherry, he said. Plastic bags of under 50 microns were
banned in Puducherry in 2009.

Under the Environment
Protection Act of 1986, offenders could be imprisoned for up to five
years or be slapped a fine of Rs. 1 lakh , or both, he said.