CM pulls up BMC on weak plastic ban

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh met political leaders and officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently and gave them an earful for not being more strict about the plastic ban.

On the direction of the CM and the Urban Development Department, the civic body is in the process of suggesting amendments to the law governing the use of plastic. One of the major causes of sewerage blockage in the monsoons is non-degradable plastic bags.

Senior civic officials said one of the amendments in the laws would be to bring about a three-fold hike in the penalty imposed on people misusing plastic. BMC officials also plan to ask for more authority, and assign a single agency to implement the laws. As of now, the manufactures have to take a NoC (no objection certificate) from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) before manufacturing plastic. The MPCB is also authorised to conduct raids on the units.

Municipal Commissioner Johny Joseph too named plastic as the culprit behind waterlogging in many parts of the city. “We want more authority to punish those manufacturing plastic bags below 50 micron and those using them,” he said. 

“We asked the Chief Minister to ban plastic completely for the next five years. Hiking the amount of penalty will not help,” said Mayor Datta Dalvi, who was among the group that met the CM.

Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh are the two states in India where ban on plastic and polythene bags have been strictly and successfully implemented.