The ban on use of plastic products, below the thickness of 40 microns, should be enforced gradually across the district, said Collector Jayashree Muralidharan here on Friday.
At a consultative meeting with district officials and representatives of hoteliers association and plastic product manufacturers and sellers association, Ms.Muralidharan pointed out that plastics below the thickness of 40 microns have been banned. The use of the non-degradable plastics in the form of bags and other products adversely impacted the environment. The use of such products which was rampant in the urban areas has now spread to rural parts of the district and hence it was essential to check the use of the same in a phased manner, she said. As a first step the ban on plastics below 40 microns in thickness would be strictly enforced from May 1 in Srirangam and Samayapuram town panchayat. The Tiruchi Corporation and the town panchayat should take up awareness programmes to sensitise the people to the issue, she said.
She appealed to hoteliers, marriage hall owners, manufacturers, and sellers of plastic products to extend their full cooperation to the steps taken by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board in enforcing the ban, she said.
P.Selvaraj, Corporation Commissioner (in-charge), Rengasamy, District Environmental Engineer, Margaret Suseela, Assistant Director, Town Panchaayts, K.C.Cheran, City Health Officer, and R.Thandapani, District Tourism Officer participated.