The All Pondicherry Plastic Traders and Manufacturers Association (APPTMA) has urged the government to drop its proposal to impose a ban on the manufacture, sale, storage and usage of disposable plastic across the Union Territory with effect from March 1.
The ban would have an adverse effect on employment and also the functioning of plastic industries in the Union Territory, they said.
A rally was taken out by the traders and manufacturers from the AFT grounds, which went through important thoroughfares and culminated at Ange Street near the Legislative Assembly.
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The agitators led by Sivasankaran, president of Puducherry Traders Federation, said that Puducherry was only a manufacturing State and from here most of the products were supplied to neighbouring States of Kerala and Karnataka where there is no ban. There are more than 200 industries which have the government’s permission to produce plastic goods.
Around 10,000 workers would be rendered jobless if the ban was imposed.