With renewed vigour, authorities in Bengaluru are taking on plastic pollution in Bengaluru as new Solid Waste Management bye-laws are set to come into effect from September 1. After the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) warned online grocery delivery platform Big Basket not to use single-use plastics, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board on Wednesday took action against other big establishments.
In a surprise inspection drive carried by Chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Dr K Sudhakar and other officials conducted surprise raids and stepped into shops in and around Brigade Road and Sadashivanagar. Nature’s Basket, Easyshopee, Namdhari Fresh and Nilgiri supermarkets were among the retail outlets that were inspected.
Speaking to reporters, Dr Sudhakar said, “Several shops in the organised sector in Bengaluru have been using banned plastic to package fresh fruits and vegetables. This is against the Environment Act. We will take necessary actions to deal with issue based on that. Closure notices will be issued to the owners of the supermarkets and legal actions will be taken against zonal health officers of BBMP who were supposed to monitor the use of plastic.”
He added, “Raids like this will continue. The state government intends to issue fresh guidelines about the means to curb the use of plastic in the state. Awareness about the ill-effects of plastic will be raised among the public. Plastic ban is the first step towards improving living conditions of environment and community.”
Plastics in the city – and the rest of Karnataka – have been banned since mid-2016
Speaking with news agency ANI, Randeep D, Special Commissioner, BBMP admitted, “In 2016, there was a statewide ban on single-use plastic by state govt which is applicable to BBMP limits also. Implementation has not been in top gear.”
He added, “Now, we are ensuring that any user of plastic, be it domestic or big eateries or manufacturers, all this should completely cease. Even the user will be fined.”
Officials in the KSPCB said that after raiding these big organisations, they will concentrate on alerting and educating the unorganised sector.
In the current year, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike have seized more than 40,000 kg of plastic and imposed fines to the tune of lakhs of rupees. Earlier this week the BBMP had handed over 5 tons of plastic to the Bengaluru International Airport authorities to lay roads within its premises as part of its expansion process.
The BBMP has been carrying out raids across the city especially eateries and grocery stores for using plastic.
Starting from September 1, consumers using plastic will be fined Rs 5,000 for the first offence and Rs 1,000 for subsequent offences while traders selling /reselling banned forms of plastic will be fined Rs 50,000 for the first offence and Rs 1 lakh for repeat violations.
These steep fines have been proposed by the BBMP as per a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order in March.
For repeat violations, BBMP will order the suspension of trade licenses for errant traders or issue closure notice.