Postpone plastic ban to Dec 2019, demands BJP MLA

Alleging the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) inspectors were treating traders like criminals and slapping fines for possessing banned plastic, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Raj K Purohit demanded the government postpone the enforcement of the plastic ban till December 31, 2019.

Speaking to newspersons, Purohit also demanded suspension of the fine. He called upon the government to set up a 'Maharashtra Plastic Damage Control Authority' (MPDCA) to work out plans to recycle plastic waste, alternatives, create public awareness and only after that, enforce the plastic ban. Purohit demanded the government set up a committee comprising of experts, and legislators to come up with people-friendly alternatives, set up a mechanism for collecting plastic waste, recycling of plastic waste and come up with compensation plans for plastic manufacturers. He argued that the manufacturers could be charged Re1 or Rs 2 as surcharge, whereby a corpus of about Rs 108 crore could be raised to fund the recycling industry. He added that the authority could earmark plots in the city, where all plastic waste could be collected and processed for further recycling.

Referring to the relaxation announced by the government on retail traders using plastic bags above 50 microns, he demanded that the government issue a notification about the same at the earliest.