Civic bodies across the state began taking action against traders and stockist for using and storing banned plastic items on Saturday. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) says they asked the local authorities to target plastic traders and stockist and not consumers. In response to the fine of Rs 5,000 levied on some vendors, some shopkeepers in Pune down their shutters in protest.
"As a strategy, we are going at the root cause of the menace. We have started an awareness campaign, and action against common people will be initiated after a week," said an MPCB official. "Our aim is not to target people but to educate and discourage them from using banned plastic items. If the traders stop selling and supplying plastic, then automatically, it will not reach the people."
Raids were conducted in Nashik, Pune, Kolhapur, Ulhasnagar and Solapur. Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation collected fines worth around Rs 50,000 from traders. Environment minister Ramdas Kadam expressed surprise that despite a three-month relief by court, traders had stocked and were selling such items.
"We will take strict action against traders," Kadam said. "We don't want to penalise common people, our target is traders. We know that the fine is too high for them. I am happy that general public is whole-heartedly welcoming this decision."
Thane Municipal Corporation confiscated 2,500 kg of banned plastic and collected a fine of Rs 95,000. Thane civic chief Sanjeev Jaiswal said that action was taken against more than 100 shops, and that the officials appealed to shop-owners to return banned plastic items to corporations.
"A 100 plastic collection vehicles were deployed across the city," he said, adding, "We have also decided to publish a list of traders on the corporation's website of those who are providing eco-friendly materials."
In Solapur, officials from the civic body collected Rs 2.15 lakh in fines. Meanwhile, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) collected a fine of Rs 3.69 lakh while seizing over 8,000 kilograms of plastic and thermocol in the city on Saturday. Teams from the PMC's Solid Waste Management department carried out action at 73 locations.
"We formed different teams of 170 personnel," said Suresh Jagtap, chief of the Solid Waste Management cell. "They went to vendors posing as customers and asked to be given their purchases in plastic bags. The vendors who complied were fined." The maximum action was witnessed in Shivajinagar, the heart of the city, where a total of 11 cases were registered.
Upon hearing of the PMC's action, some shopkeepers in Sinhgad road, Satara road, Kothrud, Vadgaon Sheri downed their shutters in protest. Sachin Nivangune, president of Retailers Association (Pune District) said, "We are not against the ban, but we are protesting PMC's action. The officials are harassing the vendors and forcefully collecting fines."
(with inputs by Anurag Bende)
