Under scanner

Ranchi, June 4: The plastic peril looming large over the city, the district administration today decided to crack down on offenders, starting next week.

The move aimed at curbing the polythene menace, which has been choking the drains, lakes, waterways and the tourist spots of the city, will see four teams of the district administration raiding malls and shopping joints to nab violators.

According to a senior official in the administration, the teams, comprising four members each, will have representatives from civic bodies, the district administration, the forest department and the pollution control board.

“During our earlier raids we found that the shopkeepers often claimed to be using plastic bags which were within the permissible limits. However, we had no ways to verify their claims and had to often return empty handed,” the official said.

According to fresh norms issued by the Centre under Plastic Waste (management and handling) Rules, 2011, polythene bags with thickness levels less than 40 microns are illegal. This apart, the law also restrained the use of plastic packaging for gutkha, tobacco and pan masala and recycling of plastic bags.

He, however, sounded hopeful of the administration cracking down on violators for good this time.“We will have environmental experts in all the teams and the plastic bags recovered will be checked on spot,” he said.

Deputy commissioner K.K. Soan, acknowledging the hazardous effects of plastic, said implementation of no-plastic rule had been lax in the state.

“The use of polythene is banned but some shopkeepers are merrily flouting rules,” Soan said.

He added that a number of offenders had been arrested in the past for flouting norms.

“In our earlier raids we had picked up around 22 violators. However, we realised that the use of plastic continued unabated. Therefore, I have directed officials to chalk out plans and weed out plastic from the city,” Soan said.

The deputy commissioner added that their focus would be continuous raids at regular interval across the city.

“That is the only way to make the residents aware of rules and regulations,” he said.