Enforce plastic ban for sake of next generation

Representation Pic

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started cracking down on the use of prohibited plastic products. Five-member teams comprising civic officials, police officers and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) personnel are taking rounds in wards to ensure malls, shops, stockists and hawkers are not using proscribed plastic items.

According to a state government notification dated March 23, 2018, the BMC can take action against citizens who are using prohibited plastic and thermocol. There is provision for fining first-time offenders for Rs 5,000, second-time offenders Rs 15,000 and third-time offenders Rs 25,000. There is a provision of three-month imprisonment for the latter.

Reports stated that teams of five, comprising cops and MPCB staff, have already been formed in each ward. There was no action taken during COVID times, but it is time to get cracking now. There is little use proscribing something, if the ban is going to be widely flouted.

This defiance also has a domino effect as if people see that establishments and owners are going against the plastic ban, they may do so too and then, we are back to square one, the days when there was no ban at all.

It is also vital to have teams like these so that those who are enforcing the rules have more teeth. They have the ability to bring those against the ban to book, to tell them to pay up the fines and through these penalties that should bite, ensure there is no repeat offence.

The plastic ban has come about with good reason. We need to battle climate change with everything we have, and the plastic in our water bodies - we have enough evidence with pictures that surface in the media periodically - is one big part of this. Stick to the ban, not just for your survival but that of GenNext.