Now, think twice before using a polythene bag

In order to discourage the use of polythene bags in the city, the civic administration has come up with a proposal of increasing the price of polythene bags and if the proposal is accepted, each bag will cost Rs 15 for a consumer.
The proposal has been initiated by the solid waste management department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) after realising that the polythene bags are creating problems at the time of processing garbage. Heaps of garbage are lying in the city as the garbage processing unit has not been able to process the waste.
An official of solid waste management department said, “Nearly 15 per cent of the entire garbage contains polythene bags which cannot be processed. Earlier, we had categorised polythene bags according to the thickness and size of the polythene. However, now the civic administration has decided to charge the same for all types of polythene bags.”
“Bags with less than 50 micron are not permitted and any bag which is above 50 micron will be charged Rs 15 per bag,” he added.
Assistant commissioner of solid waste management department, A Gawade, said, “The aim behind increasing the charges for the use of polythene bags is not to earn extra money but to discourage citizens from using polythene bags. We are hopeful that once the charges are increased, people will not go for polythene bags and it will be helpful for us to process garbage easily.”
The proposal has been forwarded to the standing committee and after its approval, it will go the general body for final approval.