Town panchayats around Tambaram will crack down on the
use of plastic bags less than 40 microns thick and will fine anyone —
residents or traders — found using them, from September 15.

This
is the beginning of a series of attempts initiated by the department of
municipal administration and water supply, especially the directorate
of town panchayats, ever since the Central Government’s notification on
Plastic Waste (Management and Handling Rules) 2011 was received.

“We
have been trying to make this a reality since several months. The
Centre’s notification was a huge boost. The menace of plastic waste has
grown and spread to town panchayats too,” said Kalaivani Kamaraj,
chairperson of Tiruneermalai town panchayat near Tambaram. The other
town panchayats are Kunrathur, Mangadu, Perungalathur, Peerkankaranai,
Sembakkam, Chitlapakkam and Madambakkam.

Pallikaranai,
Meenambakkam, Perungudi and Sholinganallur town panchayats were merged
with the Chennai Corporation last year. Ms. Kamaraj said that earlier,
town panchayats had joined hands with voluntary agencies, self-help
groups and environmental protection bodies to create awareness among
people on the ills of using plastic.

“The message has
reached the people and we hope that there will be a significant
improvement from September 15 onwards,” she said.

S.
Vimala, chairperson of Madambakkam town panchayat, said that that street
plays, door-to-door campaigns and distribution of pamphlets had been
carried out to ensure that every resident and trader was aware of the
ban on use of plastic below the thickness of 40 microns. “People are
willing to cooperate, but the interest has to be sustained,” she said.

From
September 15, a first-time penalty of Rs. 100 would be levied on
violators and repeated offenders would be fined as high as Rs. 500, Ms.
Vimala said. While thicker bags available at
supermarkets and departmental stores for a nominal ‘fee’ were used more
than once, plastic bags and sheets below the thickness of 40 microns
found their way into water channels, stormwater drains, vacant and open
spaces, temple tanks and lakes, she said.

Though
residents had reacted positively to the proposed penalty for violating
the rule, punitive measures would act as a further deterrent and prevent
people from using thin plastic below 40 microns, said experts. School
children were targeted as instruments of spreading awareness among
friends and family.