Officials lack training, use of banned plastics continues

Worsening the situation, most of the shops and hotels that stopped giving plastic carry bags to their customers have started the practice again. “When the government announced the ban, we could not easily get the plastic items and enforcement was strict. So, we asked our customers to bring utensils to buy parcel food. Now, many hotels and shops in the area use plastic bags and we are also giving parcel food in plastic bags,” a hotel owner in Kodambakkam said.

However, the Greater Chennai Corporation said that it had seized nearly 198 tonnes of banned plastic items in the city from January 1 to May 2. “From May 5 to May 11, we have conducted 1,126 raids and seized 11 tonnes of plastic items,” a higher official said.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs, who started producing alternative items for plastic anticipating a complete changeover, are feeling the pinch of the situation as they are losing their business.

“During the initial days of the ban, I had received orders for 1,000 kg (for a month) of bio-degradable carry bags from a hotel. Now, the same hotel orders only 100 kg of carrying bags. When the officials visit such hotels for raids, they display our degradable bags to them and illegally use banned items,” an entrepreneur, on the condition of anonymity said.

He also pointed out the lack of training to the officials as they tend to believe the shop owners’ claim of banned plastic as degradable plastic. “Even they do not take dichloromethane (DCM) to check whether the carry bags are plastic or degradable during raids. Any degradable item will dissolve in DCM but not the plastic.”

A field level official of the civic body admitted to the lack of training and they send seized samples to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board to verify whether the seized items are banned or not.

When asked, G Prakash, Chennai Corporation Commissioner, said that the training sessions for the field level officials would be given after the election results. “We will also conduct training sessions for shop owners, marriage hall owners and others pertaining to the banned plastic items. If they continue to use the banned items even after the training, the Corporation will seal their establishments,” he said.

Another official said that most of the plastic items are smuggled into the State from Puducherry and Gujarat and hoarded in godowns in Parrys Cornerfor later distribution to the retail shop owners.