Maharashtra plastic ban brings bagful of woes for trade

On Day 2 of the plastic ban in Maharashtra on Saturday, retailers, restaurant owners and many businesses said confusion over which items were banned and lack of alternatives to plastic for packing impacted sales volumes and turnover. They termed the ban unilateral. Under the ban, violators can be penalised Rs 5,000 for the first offence, which may rise to Rs 25,000 and three months in jail.

Viren Shah, president of Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), said around 3 lakh kirana stores in Maharashtra, including 75,000 in Mumbai, would lose business due to lack of alternatives for packaging, especially during monsoon. The fear of fines prompted over 2,000 kirana shops in the state and 700 in Mumbai to stay shut.

Shah said farsan, dry fruits and snack shops faced a 25 per cent loss in turnover and sales of juice, milk and curd had fallen. "There is a lot of fear among shopkeepers due to lack of clarity," he noted, pointing to how a pani puri seller in a Central Mumbai mall was fined for serving customers using plastic gloves, which are mandatory for ensuring hygiene.

"However, multi-layer plastic, which is more harmful to the environment, and is used to package products like chips by manufacturers has not been banned," charged Shah. FRTWA will meet Tuesday to decide the future course of action.

General stores, mithai shops, bakeries and stationery outlets have called for a day-long strike on Monday to protest against lack of clarity about the implementation of ban and action by the civic body against vendors. On Saturday, the Pune Municipal Corporation collected Rs 3.69 lakh fines from vendors. Sachin Nivangune, president, Pune district retailers association, said they were not against the ban but alternatives to use of plastic needed to be clarified.

Meat and fish sellers too complained of losses.

Adarsh Shetty, immediate past president and advisor, Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) admitted restaurants had seen around 15-20 per cent dip in the parcel business. "We have no alternatives," he lamented, adding it was not possible to package accompaniments like chutney, sambar and raita. Envelopes and paper bags used to pack parcels disintegrated after being drenched in the rain and were also in short supply.

Shetty said restaurants were fined by inspectors for using cloth bags, which they claimed, were lined with polythene. Nagendra Mehta, secretary, Imitation Jewelry Manufacturers Association, complained about lack of clarity on issues like the use of transparent plastic for re-packaging by retailers.

Akhilesh Bhargava, chairman, environment, All India Plastic Manufacturers Association, said the problem lay with the lack of clarity about the ban, which was preventing manufacturers of banned plastic products from shifting to other production lines. He noted that the ban affected around 2,500 units and added that the plastic industry employed 4 lakh people.

However, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officials said the state has around 455 units manufacturing plastic bags, with around 80% demand being sourced from outside.

"This was not a decision taken in a day. It was announced around nine months ago. What did they do since then?... were they asleep?" questioned environment minister Ramdas Kadam, stating that they should have switched to use of cloth bags. "This is not a decision taken for personal benefit but due to the adverse impact of plastic on the environment and health," he added, stating that previous fines of Rs 500 for using bags below 50 microns hardly served as a deterrent.