Chennai: Violators of plastic ban will be penalised from Monday

CHENNAI: After the Market Management Committee (MMC) seized 1.5 tonnes of banned plastic material from the Koyambedu wholesale market complex on Thursday, Greater Chennai Corporation has decided to levy a penalty on the violator.

Corporation officials said the shop will be locked until evaluation of the seized material. “We will impose a fine of Rs 25,000 on him for storing and supplying banned material.From Monday, we will levy fines on everyone including users,” said a corporation official adding that the fines have been drafted as per a government order.
The chief administrative officer of MMC, S Govindarajan, told TOI that a special team has been seizing plastic bags and other items from the Koyambedu market complex. However, since the supply of plastic carry bags was regular, they wanted to find the source.
“We got information that shop number GA 31 was supplying these bags to the vendors. So we searched the shop on Thursday and have locked it. We have informed corporation officials who will inspect the seized material and take action,” said Govindarajan. “We have been creating awareness among shop owners and have taken measures to implement the ban,” said an official.
Since January 1, the corporation has seized about 250 tonnes of banned plastic items. The highest seizure was from Kodambakkam zone where about 55.5 tonnes of banned material was confiscated followed by Royapuram where 25.7 tonnes were seized. About four tonnes were seized in the past fortnight.
Corporation commissioner G Prakash told TOI that the civic body has been regularly holding awareness campaigns at corporation schools and holding meetings with residential welfare associations. “We will host a workshop on alternate products available in the market for the banned plastic items in July,” he said.