Cuttack: Many shopkeepers and people in the Silver City here are still using polythene despite imposition of a ban on plastic bags by the state government.
The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has failed to check the use of polythene bags even though it constituted a few enforcement squads to implement the plastic ban order.
The state government had banned the sale, storage and production of polythene bags in Cuttack and five other cities of Odisha October 2, last year. Very recently, the state government imposed a ban on single-use plastic in all urban local bodies (ULBs) in Odisha.
The CMC has constituted two enforcement squads under the leadership of its deputy commissioner to raid shops for illegal storage of polythene bags. Each squad has four members, civic body sources said.
However, many shopkeepers and people in the city are yet to give up the use of polythene bags. According to sources, many shopkeepers and vendors in Cuttack are procuring plastic bags from traders on the city outskirts. “Now, only a few units are producing polythene bags and single-use plastic items in Cuttack clandestinely. However, many shopkeepers are procuring plastic bags from city outskirts. Officials of the civic body are raiding big shops while leaving aside small shops and roadside vendors,” said a source.
However, a senior official of the civic body claimed that some traders in the city are procuring polythene bags and plastic items from Kolkata.
According to him, the CMC has seized around 60 quintals of polythene in last one year. “The seized polythene has been stored in a room at CMC office. The civic authorities are planning to send the polythene bags to a cement manufacturing plant at Bargarh,” said the official.
CMC deputy commissioner Abinash Rout said it is very difficult to check the use of polythene until people are aware of the bad impacts of plastic on our environment.
CMC enforcement officer Prabhakar Sahu said they would intensify raids on shops and commercial entities to discourage sale and storage of polythene. “We are regularly conducting raids on shops and collecting fines from the violators,” he added.
On the other hand, many intellectuals and social activists have opined that the state government should take steps to provide alternatives to polythene in market. “One cannot use fabric or paper bag to carry certain grocery and other goods. There should be proper alternative to plastic,” said Nimain Charan Mantri, a local.