No clarity on banned items: Manufacturers, retailers

Mumbai: With the plastic ban coming into force on Saturday, there is still ambiguity among not only citizens but also plastic manufacturers and retailers as to exactly which plastic items are banned. The traders have demanded clarification from the BMC and the state government on the issue.

Meanwhile, the civic body has organised a three-day exhibition of alternatives to banned plastic items at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI), Worli. The exhibition opened on Friday and will continue till Sunday. However, traders who visited the exposition said that it did not serve the purpose and failed to allay their apprehensions about the plastic ban.

A trader K.M. Shah said, “All we wanted was that there should be clarity over what is being banned and what is not. But at the show, there are only plenty of stalls selling alternatives to plastic. The BMC should have set up a help-desk guiding people about the plastic ban. There should have been a board highlighting what plastic items have been banned and what can be used.”

Another trader, Aakash Jain rued that the BMC should have been more helpful in offering guidance on banned plastic items. Sanjay Vyas, a shopkeeper from Andheri, said, “There is no clarity whether plastic bags can be used for packing grains and other staples. There should have been concerted efforts from the BMC to provide us with alternatives at subsidised rates. But here, all the products are very costly.”

Responding to the complaints, Nidhi Chaudhari, deputy municipal commissioner (special), said that the BMC had already undertaken a public awareness drive to enlighten people about the plastic ban. Advertisements had also been put up in newspapers for the people’s knowledge, she said.

Meanwhile, a day before the deadline for disposing of the existing stock of banned plastic, shopkeepers across the city are still facing challenges in gathering alternative to plastic bags. While several shops have replaced plastic bags with paper bags, they hope that customers also abide by the ban and bring their own carry bags. At civic-markets in Dadar and Mulund, shopkeepers stated that they have a limited supply of paper bags and cloth bags are too expensive to procure.