Nellore: Finally, the Nellore Municipal Corporation has realised the need to prevent sale of plastic covers having less than 50 microns thickness, probably following choking of drainage canals with plastic covers in the city.
As many as six irrigation canals pass through Nellore city and they have become drainage canals over the years because the ayacut had been transformed into residential layouts.
The canals with a width of 20-30 feet used to carry storm water from the city but now, they have been reduced to 2-5 feet from their original size due to illegal construction of houses and silt deposits.
The sewage overflow from these canals is a regular phenomenon and a major reason for this is the plastic material dumped into the canals by people living in the vicinity.
The sanitary wing had arranged an iron mesh in the culverts and canals passing through the city to prevent garbage and plastic covers from blocking the water flow in the canals sometime back.
However, the initiative, which was meant to ease the job of sanitary workers involved in cleaning the drainage canals, did not help much since the residents are using open drains for dumping trash.
In this backdrop, the civic body organised a meeting with the plastic wholesale and retail sellers, apart from some manufacturers, two days ago and made it clear to them that they will not spare anyone if they sell plastic items with thickness below 50 microns.
The corporation also formed two teams exclusively to keep a tab on sale of plastic covers. The teams already seized plastic covers weighing 400 kg and imposed a fine of `60,000 on five outlets.
Health officer of Nellore Municipal Corporation Dr P. Venkata Ramana said that their teams have carried out surprise checks on the shops selling plastic covers at Stonehousepeta and Chinna Bazar areas.
He said their next move will be seizing the shops marketing plastic items while stressing that they are determined to prevent sale of banned plastic covers. He reminded that the Nellore civic body has passed a resolution sometime back to impose penalty of `25,000-`3 lakh on firms producing and marketing banned plastic covers.
He added that they have once again taken up de-silting operation of drainage canals using medium size earth moving machines in 16 areas to ensure free flow of sewage.
