Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has hit upon a novel idea to dissuade shops from using polythene carry bags and cash in on it at the same time.
A notice issued by BMC to that effect should bring cheer to environmentalists and the common people who are averse to use polythene shopping bags.
Acting on the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the civic body has directed retailers, shopkeepers and street vendors not to sell or provide commodities to consumer in polythene carry bags or plastic sheets or multilayered packaging, which are not manufactured or labelled as prescribed under the rules.
“And if they still want to go on with using polythene carry bags to dispense commodities, they are directed to be registered with BMC. Such shopkeepers and street vendors are instructed to apply online to the BMC in prescribed format along with registration fees of Rs 4,000 per month or Rs 48,000 per year by January 30, 2018 in the form of online payment (Debit Card/ Credit Card/ Net Banking/UPI) only,” a BMC official said.
The plastic carry bags or sheets they use shall not be <50 micron in thickness. “If they fail to comply within the stipulated time (February 20, 2018), penalty as deemed fit shall be imposed and action will be taken, including cancellation of Trade Licence,” he added.
“I used to bring commodities from market in polythene bags. After knowing the detrimental effect of such carry bags on environment and on human and animal lives, I am now going to market with a cotton carry bag,” says AK Ratha, a city dweller.
While experts say the reusable polythene bags are costly as a result of which traders prefer the low quality banned products over others, they also point out that the black polythene carry bags generally preferred to take home non-vegetarian products like chicken, fish, mutton, eggs, etc, are more harmful to health.
The manufacturers use certain harmful chemicals to increase the opacity of the bag and when the food products come in contact with the black polythene bags, they become poisonous, according to experts.
A BMC official said that the registration fees collected shall be utilised for Plastic Waste Management.
PNN
