Mumbai: ‘BMC targeting hawkers via anti-plastic drive’

A police officer examines a raincoat from a hawker’s cart in Dharavi on June 30. Pic/Ashish Raje

Hawkers' unions have protested against the crackdown on plastic products, especially carry bags, claiming that poor vendors are soft targets for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is turning a blind eye to plastic material godowns in the city. They have urged hawkers to register their protest by not taking loans under the PM SVANindhi scheme.

The BMC started clamping down on the use of banned plastic products on August 21. Action is mostly being taken against shopkeepers and hawkers who are handing over items such as vegetables to customers in plastic bags. Shopkeepers' unions have raised the red flag and the Indian Hotel & Restaurant Association (AHAR) have requested a meeting with the civic body and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) over the issue.

Shashank Rao, president of the Mumbai Hawkers' Union, said, "The BMC often claims that the plastic factories are outside the city and so they cannot act against them. But plastic bags are stored in godowns that are known to the BMC. Even then they are only punishing vendors to show that they are acting against the use of plastic. We already requested the civic body to stop taking action against hawkers."

Dayashankar Singh, president of Azad Hawkers' Union, said, "We have suggested in various meetings arranged by assistant commissioners of the wards to cancel the licences of plastic factories. We should clean Gangotri first before cleaning the Ganga. It is another way of taking bribes. I advised hawkers to not take loans under the PM SVANindhi scheme as a mark of protest."

Also read: Mumbai: Gokhale Road bridge won't be ready by Diwali

He added that the BMC is not doing anything about allotting licences to hawkers but is fining them for plying their trade on the roads, appealing to them to take Rs 10,000 loans under the scheme and harassing them under the pretext of the plastic ban.

All kinds of carry bags (with or without handles) of all thicknesses, non-woven polypropylene bags with a weight less than 60 grams per square metre, plastic and PVC banners less than 100 microns, and plastic and thermocol used for decoration are prohibited along with other items.

Aug 21
Day BMC started cracking down on plastic