The city administration will begin crackdown on Single Use Plastic (SUP) from Tuesday.
Two squads have been formed to inspect shops and traders using and selling SUP, which has been banned by the Centre from July 1.
Incidentally, the local body had earlier unsuccessfully attempted to ban plastic carry bags of thickness below 50 micron a couple of times. The earlier initiatives of the local body had fizzled out over a period of time as the authorities could not offer alternative materials. This time around, the local body has been vested with the responsibility of enforcing the Central government direction to ban the use of SUP.
The Kochi Corporation had earlier convened the meeting of the stockists and traders of the now banned plastic and appraised them of the situation. They were also asked to clear the stock and not to acquire it any more, said T.K. Ashraf, chairman, Health Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation.
The squads will be deployed in the east and west Kochi areas from Tuesday. Though the officials were supposed to hit the streets from Monday, the programme had to be postponed as the civic body had to convene a meeting to check the spread of dengue fever in the city, he said.
Meanwhile, the Central ban on SUP may come as a boon for Kudumbashree units and those engaged in the making of bags using natural materials including cloths.
The local body will extend support to those units manufacturing cloth bags in its annual plan programme. In the first phase, the local body may be able to support around five to 10 units. Projects for making the bags will come up in the development seminar of the local body to be held on July 6, he said.
