Plastic Ban in Maharashtra: BMC Charges for Using Reusable Plastic, Faces 20% Loss Says Hoteliers
To avoid confusion the state government has decided to conduct awareness campaigns by using pictorial images on plastic products, which have been banned and exempted.
Mumbai, June 28: Five days into the ban, the Mumbai civic body has started to impose fines against offenders for using banned plastic since the grace period ended on June 23. The Indian Hotel and Restuarant Association (AHAR) has alleged that they are being harassed for using reusable plastic by BMC's appointed inspectors. The allegation was made by the association members who contended that on Saturday a few BMC inspectors visited the eateries in Chembur, and charged them wrongly. The fine was originally meant for offenders using single-use plastic.
Santosh Shetty, the president of AHAR, an umbrella organisation which has members from around 8,000 restaurants stated,"Our plastic containers are made with a thicker material of 500 to 600 microns, which is around five times the average plastic product of barely 100 microns and cannot be crumpled and tampered with, as is the case with tiffin boxes."
The AHAR members held a press conference on Wednesday where they also claimed that they have incurred a 20 percent loss in their business as their takeaway service has been affected badly due to the ban. The report mentioned that the hoteliers have started charging more money from their customers to provide takeaway services as they are using recyclable and reusable plastic to store the foodstuff, which the customers are not happy with. The bigger storage containers are available at Rs. 20 and smaller containers at Rs. 2. Therefore, on an average, the patrons have to pay Rs. 8 more for packaging the food.
Nidhi Choudhari, deputy municipal commissioner (DMC) and nodal officer of plastic management refuted the allegations made by the association. The officer was quoted by the Times of India as saying: "We are not taking punitive action against any material that the government is considering to exempt from the ban ambit."
It is to be noted that the Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam has relaxed the rule of the plastic ban for retailers late evening yesterday. The announcement came after the retailers threatened to go on strike, demanding the relaxation of the rule on the ban. After the new decision, retailers have heaved a sigh of relief as shopkeepers who sell loose food products like sugar, ghee, rice, and other products are allowed to use plastic bags for packaging for products over 250 grams.
In addition to this, to avoid confusion the state government has decided to conduct awareness campaigns by using pictorial images on plastic products, which have been banned or exempted.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 28, 2018 03:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).