Plastic ban drive picks up pace, Hagadur residents get on board

  At a time when the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) appears unexcited about strictly enforcing the plastic ban, citizens are going the extra mile in phasing out the harmful substance from their neighbourhoods.

Residents of more than a dozen wards have already enforced the ban in their neighbourhoods, with support from the civic body. And the list is only growing. Hagadur (ward 84) in Mahadevapura, east Bengaluru, is the latest to join the mission.

On April 2, the local corporator and BBMP officials met the traders as they are the bulk generators of plastic and enlisted their support for the ban. Since then, residents, with the help of BBMP officials, are sensitising the traders to the harmful effects of using plastic and encouraging them to use jute bags instead.

They are even supplying free jute bags to shopkeepers on main roads and at traffic intersections.

Yagnalakshmi Ramachandralu, a volunteer with Whitefield Rising, a group of citizen activists which took the lead in enforcing the ban in Hagadur, said they were inspired by the no-plastic movement in Yelahanka and other wards.

“Plastic and garbage were being burnt together in this ward, causing serious health hazards,” she said.

According to her, traders are responding well to the drive against plastic and switching over to eco-friendly options.

On April 12, BBMP engineers raided shops and seized plastic items. BBMP health inspector, Prakash K N, said they were not just seizing plastic items but also penalising the violators. “About 500 kg of plastic covers were confiscated from more than 10 supermarkets and retail stores. We will intensify the drive in the coming days,” he said.

The next drive will be held in Hagadur on Saturday from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm. Poornima Jayram, who is part of the BBMP’s Hagadur ward committee, hoped the movement would help reduce environment pollution. She said the change was finally setting in Bengaluru.

Plastic banned in

 Yelahanka
 HSR Layout
 Bellandur
 Puttenahalli
 Domlur
 BTM Layout
 Vigyan Nagar n Koramangala
 Sanjaynagar
 Rajarajeshwari Nagar
 Shanthinagar
 Banashankari
 Singasandra
 Hagadur