Mumbai still loves its plastic bags!

Forgot to bring a bag while shopping for vegetables No sweat plastic bags are still available in shops and markets all across the city This despite a nationwide ban on usage as well as production of singleuse plastic since July 2022 In a test drive at a few vegetable markets in the city midday found that the situation on the ground is far from reality Vendors and shopkeepers freely hand over singleuse plastic bags to shoppers This shows how they have no fear of being caught and penalised by the civic bodyUse of banned items including plastic bags and other singleuse plastic items that cannot be recycled and are an environmental hazard is still a normal daytoday thing in shops and markets across the cityPlastic plastic everywhereThe vendors at a vegetable market on JP Road Andheri West were no different The midday team purchased some vegetables which were handed over in plastic bags When asked about the ban the vendor said he was using it only during the monsoon as it becomes difficult for customers to carry the produce in paper bags due to rainAlso read World Cleanup Day How to ditch plastic and other sustainable travel tipsPlastic bags which are banned yet filled with vegetablesAnother vendor said ldquoWe know that the ban is in effect We are just finishing the old plastic bags we already have in stock Customers generally get their own cloth bag whenever they buy vegetables Now that the monsoon is over we will get paper bagsrdquoThe situation was the same at the fruits and vegetables market in Goregaon West Here the midday team found that apart from the use of plastic bags some vegetables and fruits were covered with plastic tooA vegetable seller from Anand Nagar in Dahisar said ldquoPlastic bag ke bina bohot mushkil hoti hai it gets very difficult without plastic bagsrdquo He said many customers bring their own bags but there are some who donrsquot ldquoWe give plastic bags to people who ask for themrdquoA shopkeeper uses plastic bags for vegetables in GoregaonWhen asked if civic officials ever come for inspections he said ldquoBefore COVID it was very strict with inspections almost every week But nowadays no one comes to check And the demand for plastic bags increased especially during monsoonrdquo When asked about his stock of plastic bags he said ldquoJab raid karenge tab dekha jayega we will see when they raidrdquoShops also had other banned items such as plastic spoons and forks as well as singleuse tumblersApart from vegetable vendors plastic bags are widely used by shopkeepers too as seen in this photo from Andheri PicsSayyed Sameer AbediThe only thing that was effectively missing from the market is thermocol When inquired with some shops that sell decoration items shopkeepers said thermocol cannot be found anywhere in the market even if customers are willing to shell out more moneyThe ban and implementationThe state government banned the use of disposable or singleuse plastic and thermocol in March 2018 The government however gave users retailers and manufacturers three monthsrsquo time to get rid of such items by June 24 2018The state environment department and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB also published an illustrated guidebook in July 2018 This guidebook was intended to help common people understand what all categories or types of products have been banned in the stateThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation then formed a 249member vigilance squad in the city For this the civic body roped in staff from other departments especially licence inspectors and staffers from encroachment removal department This team went on inspections and fined those found violating the banBesides this the BMC had also started a plastic collection drive by placing boxes at 25 public places in 24 administrative wards and municipal markets across the city However the drive came to a halt by the end of 2019Then COVID19 hit in March 2020 leading to closure or restricted operation of shops However even after establishments were reopened as earlier as part of the unlock plan the raids did not start With this the plastic ban move lost its momentumAs per reports in the past three and half years since the ban came into effect in Maharashtra a fine of around Rs 11 crore was collected by the state government from retailers and manufacturers for trading banned itemsStarting July 1 2022 the Central government imposed a nationwide plastic ban As per the notification only plastic bags with a thickness above 75 microns are allowed to be usedBan not only solutionTalking to midday environmental activist and founder of Mumbai Sustainability Centre Rishi Aggarwal said there is an urgent need for proper waste management firstldquoPlastic is like a genie It suddenly appeared in our lives and now there is no going back It can be controlled but not completely stopped Emphasis should be given to reducing or restriction of manufacturing of disposable singleuse plastic There should be a combination of pricing and sincere implementation of existing policies like extended producer responsibility levying carbon tax etcrdquoldquoIf the rate of plastics is increased consumption will reduce automatically If people are charged for getting these bags they will start bringing their own bags to shops Another step that is urgently needed is an increase in plastic waste prices If citizens get a good amount by selling plastic waste they will segregate it from the garbage preventing plastic from reaching dumping grounds I would suggest instead of just imposing a ban atsource carbon tax should be implementedrdquo he said adding ldquoBesides these proper implementation of solid waste management is needed Also why is the government not speaking to stakeholders who have solutionsrdquoOfficialSpeakDeputy Municipal Commissioner Special Sanjog Kabare told midday ldquoThe action on plastic ban violators never stopped until the pandemic It stopped during the two years of pandemic Seizure of the banned items again started when everything reopened after the lockdown Following the Union governmentrsquos notification we intensified action against violatorsrdquoAs per BMCrsquos data it confiscated 3653 kg of banned plastic items from across wards between July 1 and November 10 The civic body also collected R31 lakh fine from violators mainly shopkeepers during the same periodldquoIt is not that we are not taking action against hawkers Raids and checks are conducted regularly As compared to preCOVID times we have observed that the number of violations has gone down However people are still not giving up on plastic itemsrdquo Kabare addedBMC data reveals that it had collected 142 lakh kg of banned plastic from across the city in June 2018 the month when the state ban came into effect As per the civic bodyrsquos statement issued a year later on June 26 2019 the vigilance squads collected R347 crore as fine besides lodging 489 cases against offenders in a yearPenalties and punishmentAs per section 9 of the Maharashtra Nonbiodegradable Garbage Control Act 2006 offenders will be fined up to Rs 5000 for the first time and secondtime offenders will have to pay a penalty of Rs 10000 For each subsequent offence the accused is liable to get up to three months in jail and a fine of Rs 25000Rs 31lakhFine collected by BMC from July 1 to November 10 this yearJuneMonth in 2018 when the state govt banned singleuse plasticAction taken in cityFrom June 2018 to March 2020Shops and establishments raided 16 lakh Banned plastic seized 86000 kgFine collected Rs 465 croreFrom July 2022 to November 2022Banned plastic seized 3653 kgFine collected Rs 31 lakh