Plastics ban: Seizures continue as Corpn gears up to slap fines

According to a Chennai Corporation statement, the raids were conducted in 2,898 shops in Koyambedu wholesale market, fish markets in Kasimedu and Chintadripet, Tiruvanmiyur market, and other places.

Teams led by the Deputy Commissioner (Health) P Madhusudhan Reddy, Regional Deputy Commissioners S Divyadharshini (North), Subodh Kumar (Central) and S Gopala Sundara Raj (South) conducted the raids and seized 4.35 tonnes of banned plastic items from the shops, the statement said.

The mass raid covering all the 15 Zones of the Corporation was conducted one day before the meeting at the Secretariat, which is to be chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, to decide on penalising the violators in the State.

During the mass raid on Sunday, the civic body seized 1.5 tonnes of banned plastics from shops in Koyambedu market, while 485 kg was seized from fish markets in Kasimedu and Chintadripet.

“As many as 1.07 tonnes of plastic was seized from the shops in Tiruvanmiyur and other shops in the area. The officials also introduced the alternative products to the shop owners and implored them not to use banned items,” a Chennai Corporation official said.

The civic body had seized as many as 94.55 tonnes of banned plastic items in the city from January 31 to February 3.