Ban on plastic bags, but you can carry on using them

It has been over a year since the state government banned plastic less than 40 microns thick. But who cares? Not shopkeepers, and certainly not customers.

The banned plastic is found across Ahmedabad - at shops and vegetable and fruit vendors. Most shopkeepers DNA spoke to used the same line that demand was fuelling supply.

“We can’t help it. Customers keep demanding the carry bags which compel us to keep them. Also, we can afford these low priced bags. The thick plastic bags are environment-friendly, but they burn a hole in our pockets,” said a fast-food joint owner at Prahladnagar, who did not wish to be named.

Another grocery shop owner at Ambawadi Ashokbhai said, “The civic authorities have raided my shop thrice and, each time, I had to pay a hefty fine and my stock of plastic bags was seized. But such bags prove economical for us due to which they are to be found in a majority of shops.” Over a year after the notification banning the use of thin plastic bags came into effect in February 2011, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials offer several excuses to explain poor implementation.

“We are finding it difficult to trace the manufacturers of these plastic bags. If the root of the problem is removed, then such bags will not be distributed. Unfortunately the bags are not branded, nor is the name or place of business mentioned on them,” said an official in AMC’s health department.

AMC’s medical health officer Dr Suhas Kulkarni says they have conducted a series of raids to crack down on the use of banned plastic. “Between February and December 2011, we seized 22,540 kg of plastic below 40 microns, issued 4,616 notices and collected Rs6.56 lakh in fines. Also, a total of 47 shops, where such plastic was found in large quantities, were raided,” he said.

Similarly, between January and June 2012, a total of 3,666 kg of plastic bags below 40 microns was seized, 2,130 notices were served and Rs10.08 lakh in fines collected by the health department.

Recently, the health department conducted a raid at Kalupur and sealed seven shops manufacturing the banned plastic bags.

Clearly, all this is not enough as rampant use of the banned plastic continues. A senior health official in the AMC says the banned plastic is rumoured to be manufactured in large quantities in Kalol. Kalol is not in AMC jurisdiction and, hence, the civic body’s hands are tied, the official says.