Produce plastic bags with thickness less than 40 micron and you are in for serious trouble. For, the Coimbatore Corporation Council had on Monday had increased the fine for those producing such bags from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 1,00,000.
It had also increased the fine for the wholesale and retail traders dealing in plastic bags less than 40 micron and also those who would use the bags.
Giving reasons for the increase, the resolution said that even after the Coimbatore Corporation adopting the 2011 rules framed under the 1986 Plastic Waste Management and Handling Act, and passing a resolution in August this year, there was an urgent need to protect the environment and dissuade people from using plastic bags below 40 micron thickness.
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One way of doing so was to increase the penalty, the resolution said and proposed the new rates.
Another resolution the council passed was for slapping fine on those dumping waste, including plastic covers, on roads and into drains. The resolution said that residents and commercial establishments did not dump waste in bins but outside, alongside roads and into drains.
Henceforth, if the civic body caught those dumping waste outside, it would slap Rs. 200 fine on those dumping plastics, Rs. 25,000 on those dumping used batteries, tube lights, mobile phones and covers and Rs. 50,000 on those dumping medical waste.
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Mayor S.M. Velusamy said that such a move was necessary because plastics and waste choked the drains and that it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage the waste.
The increase in penalty would deter public and encourage them to segregate waste.
In Ward 23 and other places where the corporation had begun segregation of waste at source, the conservancy workers collected around seven tonnes waste a day.
This helped them earn more by selling the waste to recyclers and also prevent the plastics from mixing with the waste that could be recycled.
The council then decided to approach the State Government for a rope car facility for the Marudhamalai Temple. It also passed resolutions for constructing toilets to prevent open defecation, bus terminus in Vadavalli and construct drain in Ward 13.
Councillors wanted waiver of water connection charges for those who had constructed houses under the Basic Services for Urban Poor scheme.
The Councillors said that the civic body officials citing very many reasons had issued demand notices to the poor who had applied for water connecting thinking that they would have to pay only Rs. 250 as decided by the council in one of its earlier meetings.
S.M. Samy (DMK) said that it would be unfair on the part of the Corporation to collect a high fee for water connection from the poor, even if they had constructed a few sq ft more than the 250 sq ft they were funded for.
The poor beneficiaries could have used their savings to what the corporation gave to have a bigger house and that was not a fault.
There were more than 100 such BSUP beneficiaries who were suffering without water connection, he said and wanted the council to help the poor. The Mayor and officials promised to look into the issue.