Mumbai, June 18: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) is creating awareness in Mumbai in a bid to make Mumbai plastic-free. In various awareness campaigns held earlier, the civic body has so far managed to collect around 1.42 lakh kilogram of plastic. However, the civic body reportedly has not set up any mechanism to recycle this plastic collected from various establishments and individuals. Kiran Dighavkar, nodal officer of plastic free Mumbai campaign was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times, "We have contacted a couple of recyclers who are registered with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). There are two in Bhiwandi, however none in Mumbai. We are still looking out on details on how to recycle the collected plastic waste."

The Maharashtra state government has implemented a blanket ban on the single-use plastic from April this year. Thereafter, the Mumbai civic body was pressed into action to make the ban successful. To reduce the use of plastic the civic body stationed plastic collection trolleys at the highest footfall areas. Also, toll-free helpline numbers have been set up to answer the queries of people regarding various alternatives available in the market as a replacement for plastic.

Meanwhile, the municipal corporation has decided to start imposing fines from June 23 on those who continue to use plastic even after warnings. BMC can levy a fine of Rs 5,000 on first-time offenders and the fine amount can go beyond Rs 10,000 on repeat offenders. To create awareness, the BMC has also decided to hold an exhibition at National Sports Club of India(NSCL) Worli between June 22 and June 24, to educate people regarding the hazardous effect of plastic on marine life and also tell them how they can reduce the use of plastic from their life. To assist people, manufacturers who produce bio-degradable products as a replacement for plastic have also been invited. Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan and Kajol will host the NSCL event for BMC.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2018 01:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).