The plastic ban was met with mixed reactions at Santacruz Market and the Carter Road promenade on Saturday.
Shravan Solapur, who works at Mamujee's Medical Store in Santacruz, said, “We’re using paper envelopes, but it’s creating a lot of problems because of the monsoon.”
Plastic stores in the market wore a deserted look, and owners were concerned about the future of their business. Several garment stores, however, openly defied the ban, with hundreds of plastic-wrapped saris and t-shirts on display.
At Carter Road, popular beverage joints such as Joost, Keventers and Dr. Bubbles replaced plastic straws and cups with ones made of paper, while fast food joints have started using wooden cutlery. Some popular restaurants, including Carter’s Blue and Shaahi Durbar, stopped delivery services temporarily as they awaited alternatives to plastic containers.
Others, like Baskin Robbins, continued using plastic spoons. “It’s just for today; the stock of wooden spoons should be arriving soon. It’s delayed because of the monsoon,” an employee at the ice cream chain’s outlet on Carter Road said.
