BMC won’t ban all plastic bags for now

Mumbai: On a day Washington’s mayor Adrian Fenty slapped a 5 cent per plastic bag levy on its residents, Mumbai First Citizen Shraddha Jadhav failed to convince her colleagues at the BMC of the need for a total ban on such carry bags.
    The civic body has instead decided to request the state government to amend the Maharashtra Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Ordinance, 2006, which prohibits use of plastic bags less than 50 microns thick, to bring tetra packs, metal plastic and thermocol within its ambit.
    The mayor, vocal about a total ban of plastic carry bags, particularly since the Pune Municipal Corporation did so, insisted she would push for it.

 

Total ban call doesn’t find favour
Mumbai: Though Mumbai mayor Shraddha Jadhav is pushing for a total ban on plastic carry bags, the general view in BMC is better implementation of existing rules would suffice.
    Some members of the Group Leaders’ Committee, which met on Saturday to discuss the ban, even accused her of not doing her homework on how other cities deal with the menace.
    “While Washington’s example does not apply to Mumbai, since the mayor here does not have any powers, at least it has sent a strong message that their mayor means business. Our mayor could have at least done some homework,’’ said a member.
    Under the new law in Washington, city businesses that sell food or alcohol must charge customers 5 cent for every disposable paper or plastic carry bag.
    A notice of motion seeking the change in the ordinance will soon be unanimously passed by the civic House and forwarded to the state government. “Before passing it on, the administration will examine the motion to give it a final touch,’’ said a senior civic official.
    Earlier, municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya set the tone for the meet by announcing that any debate on a total ban must be carried out within the ambit of the state’s ordinance. Civic officials said existing rules, if enforced with greater accountability and manpower, were sufficient to regulate the menace of plastic carry bags. “A total ban is not feasible. We need to strengthen our system to enforce the existing rules instead of talking about a total ban,’’ said the official.
    Former chief secretary V Ranganathan, who headed a panel set up after the 2005 deluge to draft an action plan on carry bags, had also ruled out a total ban. He had proposed stringent norms for manufacture and use of the bags.
    sharad.vyas@timesgroup.com