A total of 1,000 kg of plastic materials with less than 40 micron thickness were seized from shops in New Bus Stand and Alamarathukadu areas in the city here on Saturday.
A team led by City Health Officer R. Selvakumar, including Sanitary Inspectors Sitheswaran, Manikandan, Suresh, and Kandasamy raided 21 shops in these areas and found 1,000 kg of banned plastic materials kept in them. A fine of Rs. 4,650 was levied on the shopkeepers and they were warned not to sell the materials again.
The officials said that sufficient warnings were issued to the shopkeepers over the years asking them not to sell plastic bags, plastic cups and covers that were less than 40 micron thickness. However, they continue to sell the banned items. Hence, the items were seized.
The officials said that raids would continue in all shops in the city and violators would be fined.
Last week, the Corporation raided shops and seized 1,764 kg of banned plastic items from shopkeepers and levied a fine of Rs. 9,000 on them.
The Corporation has banned the sale and use of plastics below 40 microns from November 1, 2012. However, in the absence of continuous monitoring, the banned items continue to be manufactured and sold in the city.
