Plastic ban goes up in smoke in Kochi

As the State gears up for the ‘no plastic bags day’ on Thursday, Kochi Corporation, which banned the bags two months ago, is unable to enforce it for want of micrometers .

The local body banned the bags of thickness below 50 micron without possessing an adequate number of micrometers . Two months into the ban order, the local body could not procure the equipment with which the thickness of the bags are to be gauged.

The local body floated the tenders for procuring 22 pieces of micrometers only last week. Going by the general guidelines, the tender will be opened after 15 days to pick the dealer who will give the local body the best rates. The process might take at least one month to complete, sources said.

The civic authorities had announced that plastic bags below the specification would not be permitted in the city from October 1.

The local body had also announced that fine would be imposed on those found repeatedly violating the ban order.

The burgeoning heaps of plastic carry bags and the environmental issues posed by them forced the civic body to think of the ban.

Though it was decided to purchase digital micrometers with which the thickness of plastic bags could be precisely measured, it did not work out. In the absence of micrometers , the ban order remained in paper, sources said.

The local body has to inspect the huge number of shops in the city, which provides the bags to customers. “It is estimated that a huge quantity of plastic carry bags is brought to the Ernakulam central market every day,” sources said.

Without micrometers , the officials of the Health wing, who are responsible for implementing the order, cannot enforce it. While slapping fine on offenders, the details of plastic bags, including their thickness, will have to be recorded in the report. “Since the legal formalities cannot be completed without the equipment, the local body has not been successful in enforcing the ban,” sources said.

Incidentally, the local body had earlier attempted twice to enforce the ban in the city. The burning of discarded plastic bags was contributing to air pollution. The bags that were dumped into drains were also blocking the free flow of water and serving as the breeding pools of mosquitoes.

Mayor Soumini Jain will inaugurate the Haritha Keralam programmes at the corporation. The corporation is observing ‘No Plastic Day’ on Thursday, December 8.

Various programmes are being organised in all the 74 divisions of the corporation.