Ban plastic bags, BMC tells state government

MUMBAI, April 2: The Brihanumumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to ask the state government to ban plastic bags, especially for d...

MUMBAI, April 2: The Brihanumumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to ask the state government to ban plastic bags, especially for day-to-day use, in Mumbai.

The corporation feels that plastic and particularly carry- bags, which don’t have much resale value, add considerably to Mumbai’s problems, and the BMC’s solid waste management department (SWD) has prepared a note detailing the various difficulties faced by the civic body due to the plastic bag menace.

The department wants to follow in the footsteps of the Surat municipal commissioner, who has placed restrictions on the use of PVC rappers and carry- bags. Similar restrictions have been put by the Kerala government also.

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The SWD has also requested the law department to check if existing municipal laws can be implemented to regulate the sale of plastic bags through retail traders, or if rules could be used at the level of manufacture to ban or restrict the use of plastic bags.

According to the SWD chief, M R Shah, about 55 tonnes of plasticis dumped in the city’s dumping grounds, and it often gets dumped into the sewer lines and storm water drains, creating problems.

Officials of the department said the plastic bags which are picked up by ragpickers don’t have much value and find their way back to the dumping grounds in the end.

Shah felt in the interest of public safety and with regard to the density of population, the government should issue a notification banning plastic bags.