Kerala - Kochi   

Stiffer penalties for plastic-ban offenders

KOCHI: With a view to intensifying the drive against plastic below 30 microns, the district administration has directed Kochi Corporation to suspend the licence of traders found repeatedly violating the ban from Tuesday.

Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish gave this direction to the Corporation authorities at a meeting at the Collectorate on Monday.

The meeting attended by representatives of various agencies and departments assessed the implementation of the ban and considered various steps to intensify the drive.

Mr. Hanish said that if the Corporation failed to implement the directive, the administration would intervene by summoning the list of traders at fault and suspending their licences.

An official representing the Corporation informed the meeting that 169 kg of plastic was seized since the implementation of the ban. The Corporation imposed a fine of Rs.250 for violations.

The Collector asked why the Corporation did not impose more severe fine and took punitive steps like suspension of trade licences so far.

Stating that inspections by the Corporation were “sporadic” and the fine “offender friendly”, he asked for the imposition of the heftiest possible fine which the rules provided for.

He instructed the Corporation authorities to convene a meeting of residents’ associations to create awareness about limiting the usage of plastic.

The Collector asked the Corporation to hand over the major cases to the Pollution Control Board (PCB), which had provision for charging heftier fines.

He also called for handing over the plastic seized during raids to the PCB.

He said that the panchayat and municipal secretaries would be held personally responsible if the drive against plastic was found to be tardy in their respective areas.

The trend of plastic items weighing 31 microns, just over the proscribed limit, being available in the market also came in for discussion.

The lack of enough equipment for measuring the thickness of plastic was also discussed.

The Collector said that the 67 Kudumbasree units in the districts were producing bags made of alternative materials like cloth, paper and jute as a substitute for plastic carry bags.

The meeting also decided to observe Friday as ‘plastic collection day’ in connection with the week-long sanitation drive from September 26 aimed mainly at getting rid of plastic from the surroundings.

The drive would concentrate on Government offices (September 26), hospitals (27), educational institutions (29), trading establishments (30) and water sources (October 1).

The drive would be carried out with support from the public, voluntary organisations and trade unions. A meeting to be held on October 2 would make announcements regarding the drive.

He said that though the drive was able to create a social opinion against the use of plastic, it would not be successful if steps were not taken to sustain the intensity of the drive.

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