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Implementation of the ban imposed on single-use plastic products is quite ineffective in Prayagraj with the supply lines of carry bags, packing material and other products for small restaurants and even roadside eateries continuing unabated.
The initial crackdown by officials in the week following the nationwide ban on single-use plastic that came into effect from July 1 has failed to keep pace with time and two months on, single use plastics ranging from polythene bags, use-and-throw plastic fibre glasses, cups and spoons/forks to wrapping films are being sold and used with impunity.
As per the law, the banned single-use products include plastic carry bags, ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, candy sticks, ice cream sticks, plastic flags, polystyrene plastic plates, plastic cups, plastic glasses, plastic forks, plastic spoons, knives, straws , plastic trays, film wrapping or packing sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets besides plastic or PVC banners less than 100 microns.
Traders, however, themselves concede that single-use plastic goods worth lakhs are being consumed in the city every day. There is regular supply even at tehsil and village levels, they claim.
The demand for single-use plastics stems from the fact that small hotels, dhabas to roadside food stalls and juice shops can hardly afford healthy alternatives of these products while those cheap and made from leaves, thermocol etc are difficult to manage and not appreciated by customers, says Gopal Yadav, a roadside cutlet seller in Chowk.
No wonder almost all major markets of the city are full of single-use plastic items available on sale. Shopkeepers concede that both bulk and retail trade of these products got back on track hardly two weeks after the ban came into force.
“Anyone can buy these products at Loknath, Nakhas Kohna, Muttjhiganj, Katra and Gur Mandi areas. The only difference is that open display of these products at shops for sale has stopped and the cost of products has gone up by ₹ 10 for every 100 pieces,” said Sanjay Singh, a shopkeeper in old city area of Prayagraj.
Traders claim that demand for these single-use plastics is such that products worth ₹ 50 lakh get consumed every month on an average in the district. The demand for plastic fibre glasses is quite high with even small shops located near beer and liquor shops wanting to stock them in good quantities.
Leaders of traders’ representative bodies meanwhile flay crackdowns aimed at shopkeepers and traders of these items. “The sale of these products has not stopped as there is high demand for them. If the ban is to be really implemented, the bulk producers of these goods who are running factories in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Kanpur should be targeted. The shopkeepers are simply selling products that are available for trade,” said Rajeev Krishna Srivastava, patron of Jila Mahanagar Udhyog Vyapar Mandal, Prayagraj.
Environmental engineer, Prayagraj Nagan Nigam, Uttam Kumar Verma said a zone wise campaign was launched against the sale of single use plastics and resulted in large quantities of such items being seized in the city and fines being levied on violators after the ban came into force.
“The campaign has not been undertaken for the last few days. We have received complaints about buying and selling of single-use plastics again in the city. Soon action will be taken against the violators,” he added.
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