“The government is planning to impose a complete ban on use of plastic in the Union Territory,” T. Thiagarajan, Minister for Science, Technology and Environment, said here on Thursday.
Participating in a programme organised by the Science, Technology and Environment Department to celebrate World Environment Day, Mr. Thiagarajan said, “The plastic waste wreaks havoc on the environment. Though the government has banned a certain level of non-biodegradable plastic and been taking steps to control the menace, it now aims at enforcing a complete ban on the use of plastic materials to safeguard the environment.”
Considering the rampant use of plastics, the territorial administration had enforced a ban on sale of plastic bags up to 51 micron in 2009. As per the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, the sellers of plastic bags up to 51 micron could be prosecuted.
Frequent raidsM. Dwarakanath, Director, Department Science, Technology and Environment, said: “With help of Revenue authorities, we have already conducted frequent raids on the plastic bag manufactures. Recently raids had been conducted on some godowns on Mahatma Gandhi Road and Nehru Street leading to seizure of about three tonnes of plastic materials. We have filed cases against them in courts.”
Explaining the consistent efforts to contain plastic waste, V. Candavelou, Secretary of the Department, said: “We can completely ban the plastic bags use if the public extend their cooperation.”
On the State government’s several initiatives to protect the environment, Mr. Thiagarajan said as a matter of principle, the government did not grant consent to any industry which was highly polluting. “We are not permitting any new industry that would emit high pollution or extract too much of groundwater,” he said.
On energy conservation, Mr. Thiagarajan said the government had been implementing a scheme to replace incandescent bulbs with LED lamps across domestic households in the Union Territory. Distribution of LED bulbs to residents would be completed from Kalapet to Kanagachetikulam within 10 days.
He said the government had taken several pro-active steps to restore the greenery which was lost during cyclone ‘Thane.’ Every year, 5,000 saplings were being planted.
