The Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), the local urban body, has devised a unique concept to not only create awareness against harmful effects of plastic use but also instil fear amongst vendors and shopkeepers still using plastic carry bags in the industrial city.

The committee, which covers both Tata Steel-managed residential areas and non-company residential areas, launched the “Jamshedpur Plastic League” on Thursday.

“It is an innovative idea to create awareness against the use of plastic and also instil fear amongst shopkeepers and vendors who are still found using plastic bags clandestinely despite prohibition on its use. We would be forming four teams as participants in the league. Each team would comprise 11 members and would be placed under a city manager (a contractual official of the state urban development department) as skipper of the respective teams,” said JNAC special officer Krishna Kumar. The team would be covering different commercial and residential areas within the jurisdiction of JNAC (approximately 200 sqkm).

“Members of the four teams would be conducting surprise visits and keep a check on single-use plastic, plastic carry bags and thermocol, etc. Each member would have to submit at the end of the day a list containing details of plastic seized along with details of the shop/vendor from where it was seized and the fine collected from each shop. We will be according one wicket to each shop or vendor which will be added to the tally of the respective team, while each kilo of seized plastic would be treated as one run which will also be added to the team tally,” said Kumar.

The tally would be maintained daily by the Swachh Bharat Mission nodal officer, Sandeep Kumar, and the winner and runners-up would be announced on December 5 when the “plastic league” concludes. “Winners and runners-up teams would be given trophies and certificates on the last day. The four teams have been named Sonari Star, Sakchi Kings, Tata Transformers and Green Caps Jamshedpur,” said Ravi Bharti, one of the city managers of JNAC.

The Jharkhand cabinet had decided in September 2017 to issue a blanket ban on plastic carry bags, irrespective of thickness and size. The cabinet declared that plastic carry bags could be used only to package food products and milk and for use in nurseries (parks and gardens).

The notification by the state government in October 2017 said the blanket ban would be enforced from statehood day (November 15, 2017) onwards.
According to JNAC officials, Jamshedpur generates nearly 15 metric tonnes of plastic waste daily out of a total of 300MT of solid waste.