Reactions from the public and traders to the ban on plastic bags with a thickness less than 40 microns, by the town panchayats of Kancheepuram district, have been mixed.
Mangalam Balasubramanian, an environmentalist from Pammal, said the ban would be successful only if all stakeholders, including manufacturers, traders, local bodies and consumers took it seriously.
Some said adopting an environment-friendly lifestyle alone would enable us to banish plastics from our midst.
S. Poongothai (75), a flower vendor from Chitlapakkam, said that until a decade ago she was using ‘thamarai’ (lotus) leaves for packing, which are scarce nowadays due loss of waterbodies.
“If anyone comes forward to supply small cloth bags at less than a rupee apiece, people like me would survive, otherwise, we will suffer due to this regulation,” she added.
As part of their Independence Day celebrations, the Madambakkam town panchayat initiated plastic-free campaign and distributed cloth bags to shopkeepers. Awareness was created through folk arts. Executive Officer of Madambakkam town panchayat, V. Prema said various campaigns had been conducted for the past 15 days, educating people about the harm that plastic bags could bring.
“Shopkeepers have been instructed not to give plastic bags measuring less than 40 microns,” she said. We have already given 500 cloth bags to shops to use them as samples.”
According to officials of the Directorate of Town Panchayats, special teams would inspect the shops regularly and traders using plastic bags would be fined on the spot.
A senior official said that women self-help groups would be encouraged to manufacture cloth bags for shoppers.
Manufacturers of cloth bags in the district would be enlisted to support the fight against plastic, he said.