Local bodies are gearing up for a flurry of activities before the ban on single-use plastic products comes into effect on January 1. Supply of free cloth bags, getting rid of plastic growbags at government farm nurseries, a broad-based campaign on the Government decision and consultations with trade bodies to end their dependence on single-use plastic bags top the agenda.
“Kalamassery municipality will distribute 18,000 cloth bags to households in the municipal area as a first step towards creating awareness about the Government decision to end the use of single-use plastic bags,” said Health Standing Committee chairperson Shiny Anthony on Monday.
The municipality has tied up with the Kudumbashree at Kalamassery for making cloth bags. Ms. Shiny said that the free distribution of cloth bags was a first step towards making the 27,100 households within its jurisdiction aware of the message of plastic ban.
The neighbouring Eloor panchayat has made some strides in curtailing the use of plastic bags of less than 50 microns. However, the misuse of the product had continued to dog the efforts in the past, said Usha Gopinath, Municipal Chairperson.
Implementing the ban was the local body’s responsibility, she said, and pointed out that the first step would be the distribution of 9,000 cloth bags to households free of cost.
The municipality would spend about ₹2.5 lakh on cloth bags for which funds would be utilised from the Clean Village project, she said. The cloth bags would spot slogans for a new and clean municipal area, she said, adding that a widespread campaign was being planned by the municipality targeting households.
Shabna Mehr Ali, Health Standing Committee chairperson, Thrikkakara municipality, said that 200 women from Kudumbashree mission had been trained in cloth bag making.
“Traders have sought more time to totally abandon plastic bags,” said Ms. Gopinath who met a delegation of traders on Monday. She maintained that the government and the municipality had been appealing to traders to end their dependence on plastic bags for many years. Ms. Ali said that traders in the municipal area had expressed their willingness to cooperate with the campaign.
The municipalities have also made it clear that they would officially end the collection of single-use plastic items as is done routinely now. “Within a month, collection of banned plastic will end,” said Ms. Shiny regarding the Kalamassery municipality’s decision.
Ernakulam District Panchayat vice president Abdul Mutalib said that the local body had been in the forefront of the campaign to end the use of plastic products. One of the steps the district panchayat had taken up was to gradually phase out growbags at the five government agricultural nurseries under its care. The plastic content in growbags had considerably been reduced with the help of cloth-based substitutes, he said.
