Mumbai discards 121 tonnes of banned plastic in 2 months
Mumbai:mumbaiites have thrown away around 121 tonnes, or 1.2 lakh kg, of banned plastic items over the past two months, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the civic body responsible for collecting them from its special bins placed at 60 locations across the city.
Data with BMC shows that close to 17 tonnes were collected from Andheri (west), the highest from one area, followed by Byculla from where 14 tonnes was collected. Only around 30kg of plastic was disposed of in Govandi, which has a high concentration of slums.
The move follows the state government’s ban on plastic items such as sheets, pouches, thermocol cutlery, among other things. Of the 121 tonnes, 109 tonnes were picked up from housing societies and have been sent to segregation centres.
WHAT IS THE BAN?
With the Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (Manufacture, Usage, Sale, Transport, Handling and Storage) Notification, 2018, issued on March 23, the government banned manufacture, usage, storage, distribution, wholesale or retail sale, import and transportation of all kinds of plastic bags (with or without handle), single use disposable items made of plastic and thermocol — dish, cups, plates, glasses, fork, bowls, forks, spoons, straw, containers, non-woven polypropylene bags, pouches to store liquid, plastic to wrap or store products and packaging of food items, across the state.
It also declared a fine of ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 respectively for the first and second-time offence. A third-time offender will be fined ₹25,000 and get three months’ imprisonment. The state then decided to give an extension of two months to people for disposing of banned plastic items, so authorities will not start punitive action till June 23.
BMC HELPLINE
Only 140 people have called the helpline so far in the past three weeks, of which 59 requested pick-up service from their societies, said a civic official. “The remaining 12 tonnes were collected from markets and shopping areas,” said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner and nodal officer for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. The discarded items will be handed over to authorised recyclers after a buffer period, Dighavkar said.
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