Municipal health officials at Tambaram and Pallavaram seized plastic bags below 40 microns from shops and other commercial establishments recently. The traders also had to pay a fine.
The officials raided several shops on Ayyasamy Street, Shanmugham Road, Abdul Razack Street, Service Road and other streets adjoining the Tambaram market and seized polythene bags weighing a total of more than one tonne. Raids were also conducted by Pallavaram municipal officials, who seized over 850 kg of plastic and banned items from shops located at Radha Nagar, Chromepet.
V. Srinivasan, a resident, said tonnes of use-and-throw plastic products were causing irreversible damage to the environment and this initiative of the health officials should be extended to other areas. The Directorate of Town Panchayats had directed urban local bodies to stop using plastic products with a thickness less than 50 microns from Independence Day.
Use of plastic products below 40 microns had already been banned and a fine was imposed for their manufacture, marketing and use in town panchayats, officials added.
