Plastic packets pollute the capital city. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, April 22: Forest and environment minister Debi Prasad Mishra is not happy with the way the capital’s solid waste is managed.

In spite of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) being able to ban the use of polythene, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had not yet been able to enforce it, the minister said.

“We are concerned about solid waste management in the capital city. Though it has become a major problem with all our leading municipalities and corporations, the problem in the state capital has become more prominent because the city is the showcase of how we handle solid waste. There is a need for a major campaign against the use of polythene,” said Mishra.

“We have issues such as air pollution, fly ash, temperature rise and warming of local climate across the state, but the simple problem with solid waste is yet to be addressed in the city,” he said.

“The civic authorities, in coordination with the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), should enhance their activities in controlling the situation,” the minister said while speaking at an event to mark World Earth Day.

The Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, which replaced the earlier Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, has entrusted the municipal authorities with the responsibility of implementing the new rule. However, the BMC is yet to launch a crackdown on the use of polythene carry bags in the city.

BMC had organised a workshop in the last week of February and mayor Ananta Narayan Jena declared there that the city would be polythene-free within a fortnight and an awareness campaign would be launched. But the civic body never launched a serious campaign.

“We have already approached a company that produces bio-degradable polymers. But, a single bag will cost around Rs 4. We are also considering alternative options,” Jena had said.

“The BMC website has some tips on how people could reduce, reuse and recycle polythene materials, but not many people follow the website. There should be public campaigns to reduce the polythene burden in the city,” said environmentalist Bijay Kumar Mishra.

The civic body in Cuttack, on the other hand, put a blanket ban on the use and sale of polythene bags by a notification on August 18 last year. However, lack of proper expertise to measure the thickness of the polythene bags has become a stumbling block. While a standard bio-degradable bag is likely to cost Rs 4 in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack shop owners are providing a standard bag for Rs 3. Sources in the BMC said there was a need to carry out regular raids and force the shopkeepers to manufacture bio-degradable bags.

Officials managing waterlogging and other emergency situations in the city said polythene was a major reason for blocking of drains in various colonies and the 10 natural drainage channels criss-crossing the city.

OSPCB member secretary Siddhanta Das said: “The BMC authorities have initiated steps in coordination with us. It needs effort from every quarter and people should be made aware about the polythene menace. The pollution-watch body will be in touch with the BMC to implement the ban.”

The BMC authorities said there was a proposal to introduce a scientific management of solid waste in the city with use of mechanical cleaning methods. The 51 privatised wards would be divided into two zones of 26 and 25 wards so that a technically sound and financially stable organisation can take the solid waste management responsibilities.

However, many BMC councillors are opposing the government proposal to award a contract to an organisation for seven years.