Bhubaneswar: India is this year's host for World Environment Day, which will be celebrated with a central theme of "beat plastic pollution". But, the city seems not at bothered about curbing plastic menace.

The civic body framed Plastic Waste Management Rules and conducted periodic awareness campaigns to reduce people's dependence on plastic. But all of these hardly seem to have any effect on the people of Bhubaneswar.

Polythene bags and various other articles made of polythene are being used in markets and other commercial places every day, creating heaps of plastic waste that is not only creating soil pollution but also chocking drains, triggering fears of urban flooding in the ensuing monsoon.

"Plastic is one of the most hazardous waste since it takes a long time to decompose. It frequently chokes drains and contaminates soil and water. The Centre had notified the Plastic Waste Management Rules in 2016, which needs to be implemented here properly to fight the pollution caused by polythene," said environmentalist Sailabala Padhi.

Soon after the Union government notified new Plastic Waste Management Rules in 2016, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation swung into action to take steps and ensure proper management of plastic waste. In line, the plans of a plastic waste treatment plant and a shredding unit came afoot.

However, more than two years have elapsed since and none of the plans have materialised. Besides, the new rules entrusted the civic body to register vendors and shopkeepers who use plastic bags and collect a fee from them to discourage its use. Here again, the civic body failed. They started an online registration process for the vendors using plastic, but has not been able to collect any fee from them so far.

A senior civic official, however, claimed otherwise. He said they had registered most of the vendors.

"We will compile the data and start collecting fees shortly," he said.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they would shortly implement the Plastic Waste Management Rules in the city.

"We are on the verge of completing the registration process and will do the rest very soon. People need to be aware of the hazardous impact of plastic waste, we will need their support," said Jena.

But, no one in the civic body could answer why they had been dragging their foot on the important and environmentally-sensitive issue for so long.