Anti-plastic drive: Civic body seizes 140kg of plastic bags from traders

CBD BELAPUR: Stepping up its drive against the use of plastic carry bags of less than 50 micron thickness in the city, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Wednesday t ook action against two traders in Turbhe.

Acting on a tip- off, a team comprising deputy municipal commissioner (zone I) Subhash Ingle, deputy municipal commissioner (zone II) Suresh Patil and assistant municipal commissioner Ashok Madhvi raided two shops in Turbhe’s Sector 19A and seized 60kg and 80kg of plastic bags from their shops. The traders were asked to pay a fine of Rs10,000 for violating the norm.

Civic commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said, “Plastic bags harm the environment and also clog drains. It’s not only authorities, even residents are also responsible for the environment. They should stop using plastic bags since they adversely affect the environment. Hence, the civic body has called upon traders as well as people not to use thin plastic bags.”

Waghmare also suggested that residents use cloth and paper bags instead. KOPAR KHAIRANE: Officials of the Navi Mumbai crime branch and Kopar Khairane police jointly conducted a raid at two gambling dens in Kopar Khairane and booked 24 people for gambling.

Acting on a tip-off, the police team raided a building near Bonkode pond and a building near Mayur hotel in Sector 5 at around 11am and found the gamblers playing the teen patti game.

Several gamblers managed to flee on spotting the police. However, t he police t eam arrested 24 people – including Pralhad Kalabage, 38, Gautam alias Dadu Lokhande, 30, Datta Sakapal, 32, Shankar Ogale, 25, Shridhar Pujari, 40.

“The accused have been booked under t he Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act,” said senior inspector Ashok Naik of the Kopar Khairane police station.

“We are interrogating the accused to find the details of the owner of the gambling den and the person who runs the gambling racket,” said Naik.