With the ban on single-use plastic articles coming into force in all government offices in Madurai district on Monday, a slew of activities were witnessed in many offices, particularly at the Madurai Collectorate, to make the campuses free from these items.
However, the overall response to the ban remained moderate on the first day with plastic tea cups and carry bags continuing to be in use in a number of government offices such as police stations, and offices of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation and Health and Family Welfare department.
The ban came after Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao’s announcement on Friday that the government offices in the district will take the lead in enforcing the ban on single-use plastic, which is expected to come into force across Tamil Nadu from January 1, 2019 as per the recent decision of the State government.
To encourage the ban, the Collector distributed cloth bags that can be used as an alternative to the plastics to the public and officials, who had come for the weekly grievance day meeting.
He also visited few other offices on the Collectorate premises to check if there was use of single-use plastics and distributed cloth bags to the visiting public there.
A team of revenue officials also inspected throughout the Collectorate campus and removed the plastic bags and sheets used by those assisting the public in filling up various forms.
An official from TANGEDCO said that since the announcement came only on Friday they were not prepared. “The main usage is tea cups. The employees should probably bring their own cups from now on,” he said. Officials also pointed out to the need for cleaning up the plastic waste dumped in the premises of several government offices, including the Collectorate and the District Rural Development Agency premises located opposite the Collectorate.
