Kochi Corporation ups fight on plastic

Kochi: The Kochi Corporation has instructed all supermarkets and shopping malls in the city to replace plastic carry bags with cloth bags or bags made of eco-friendly material from September 1.

 The health authorities had informed the council at a recent meeting that an order in this regard had already been issued to all supermarkets asking them to strictly comply with the directive on plastic bags

However, councillors alleged that the health authorities had not yet issued the order and that many supermarkets were still not aware of it.

Meanwhile, the civic body has intensified the drive against thin plastic packaging materials and seized more than 1.5 tonnes of banned products so far. “We have inspected 788 shops in the city and seized banned plastic carry bags from 284 shops. Traders were slapped with a total fine of Rs.39,500,” added the official.

CPM councillor V. P. Chandran said the civic body should enforce a bylaw for plastic waste management. However, corporation secretary R.S. Anu said as per the Plastic Waste Management Rules - 2016, packaging materials with thickness of less than 50 microns are banned and the civic body only needs to implement it.

Several council members alleged that while the small-scale traders had been raided, the big wholesale dealers were spared from the inspection drive. “Nearly five truckloads of plastic carry bags reach the wholesale dealers in the city per day. If the wholesale godowns are raided, huge quantities of banned products can be seized,” said C.K Peter, CPM councillor.

Deputy mayor T.J. Vinod asked health officials to submit to the health standing committee the details of the raids including the number of shops raided.