Use cloth bags, not plastic: KDMC appeals to traders

KalyanWith residents starting their Diwali shopping, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) have urged shopkeepers and traders asking them to not use plastic

Kalyan
With residents starting their Diwali shopping, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) have urged shopkeepers and traders asking them to not use plastic bags.

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Civic chief Govind Bodke recently met shopkeepers and traders at Anand Bal Bhavan in Dombivli and appealed them to stop stocking or giving single-use plastic.

“Shopkeepers and traders should stop giving single-use plastic to customers. Once they stop doing that, customers will also get used to it and they will stop using plastic bags,” said a KDMC official, who did not wish to be named.

The civic body has distributed cloth bags among traders and shopkeepers.

“We have distributed cloth bags and asked shopkeepers to stop giving plastic bags. The move will also generate employment for those who make cloth bags,” said the official.

The civic body has plans to collect multi-layer plastics from shopkeepers and traders and send them to Barave plastic disposal plant.

“We also need to find solutions to dispose of multi-layer plastic. We have a plant at Barave to converts plastic to diesel and operated by a third party. We are thinking of collecting multi-layer plastic from shopkeeprs and traders and send it to the plant,” said Ghanshyam Navangul, executive engineer, solid waste management, KDMC.

This plant has a capacity to treat 5 metric tonnes of plastic at a time. The civic body is finalising another plant near the Barave plant which can treat 1 metric tonnes of plastic waste.

“The second plant is under construction and it will start functioning in a month,” added Navangul.

As per the civic officials, the civic body collects 1 metric tonnes of plastic waste from across Kalyan and Dombivli, which is sent to the Barave plant.

KDMC had started collecting plastic from different parts of the city in cycles. This has stopped.

An organisation was entrusted the job and it put up two plastic waste collection banks at Adharwadi and near KDMC headquarters.

Shopkeepers in Kalyan claimed that they have stopped using plastic bags and have switched to paper bags.

“In Kalyan (West), there are around 700 shops and most of them have started using paper bags. Instead of just targeting shop owners, the civic body need to educate hawkers about plastic ban,” said Rakesh Mutha, president of shopkeepers’ association, Kalyan (West).

“If the civic body has to act against single-use plastic, it should first educate the public. Hardly many people are aware right now,” said Madhav Dixit, 43, a resident of Kolsewadi, Kalyan (East).