Nalgonda civic body to trim down plastic use

​Nalgonda: In an effort to make Nalgonda a plastic free town, the sanitary inspectors raided 120 shops in the limits of Nalgonda Municipality and seized five tons of plastic material.

• Authorities of Nalgonda municipalilty raid plastic wholesale shops and seize five tonnes of material
• Make licence mandatory for wholesale sellers

The municipal authorities decided to collect heavy licence fee from the wholesale and retail shops that sell plastic disposable materials like glasses and carry bags. The authorities also decided to act tough against the use of plastic carry bags below 50 microns.

Intensified raids on the shops including road side vegetable vendors by the municipal officers were giving good results as usage of plastic bags, thinner than 50 microns, has almost come down due to fear of penalty.

The officials were collecting Rs 1,000 from the shops and Rs 3,000 from wholesale shops if they were caught red-handedly having stocks of plastic bags thinner than 50 microns.

Speaking to The Hans India, In-Charge Commissioner of Nalgonda Municipal Corporation Satyanarayana informed that they found plastic to be the major component of the daily waste collected by the sanitary workers in the municipality. “Since these materials are hazardous to the environment and hard to decompose, we have decided to adopt multi-faceted strategy to control the sale and usage of plastic items,” he said.

He further added that the wholesale shop owners of plastic materials should get the mandatory licence from the Municipality by paying a fee of Rs 48,000. Owners of wholesale shops should furnish the list of the shops to whom they sell the material to the municipal authorities concerned. If any retail shop owner wants the individual licence, they should pay Rs 4,000, he added.

Satyanarayana also made it clear that the shops, which have obtained the licences, would only be allowed sell plastic bags above 50 microns. He cautioned that stringent action would be taken against the shop owners who would violate the rule.

The In-Charge Municipal Commissioner has also informed that awareness campaign would also be taken up in the colonies of the town to make them avoid the use of plastic bags. NGOs and colony associations would also be involved in the initiative, he added.