Traders give government seven day ultimatum to allow plastic in primary packaging

Over 1,000 retailers and traders met on Tuesday and decided to give the government seven days to come out with a notification allowing them to use plastic in primary packaging. They threatened the government th a strike if it fails to come out with a decree in their favour. They also agreed to buy back plastic bags.

The meeting was held in Mewar Bhavan, Goregaon and was convened by the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA). The decision came in the wake of the plastic ban, which has become a cause of concern for retailers and traders.

"We have decided on three things in our meeting today. We are ready to buy back plastic. We are giving the government a week's time to come out with a notification allowing the use of plastic by small-time retailers like milk vendors. We may call a bandh if that is not done. The third is that shops in the area will down shutters if anyone is harassed," said Viren Shah, president, FRTWA.

The retailers and traders were upset that while plastic used for selling products of multinational companies is allowed, those used by Kirana stores have been banned. "Should the same plastic not be banned for them too? If plastic is harmful, why is there partiality in banning it? In fact, it is the plastic used by them that is not recyclable," said Manish Verma, a trader from Dahisar.

"It is a fight between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, but we are suffering. Ramdas Kadam says it is the CM's wife's plan to ban plastic, while the CM's office says it is Aditya Thackeray's decision," said Nimit Punamiya, one of the speakers.

READY TO BUY BACK

The traders and retailers association said they are ready to buy back plastic. However, hey threatened that shopkeepers will down shutters if anyone of them is harassed.