Thrissur: The Guruvayur Municipality is observing a ‘no-plastics day' on Saturday and all vehicles entering the town will be checked for plastic bags.
The initiative is part of the civic body's efforts to free the town from the menace of plastics. An anti-plastics rally will also be taken out on the day.
Municipal chairperson Geetha Gopi said here on Thursday that all vehicles entering the town on Saturday would be checked for plastic bags. Cloth bags will be supplied to the passengers to replace the plastic bags.
The ‘plastics raid' would be conducted in collaboration with the police and the Motor Vehicles Department, in addition to volunteers of Scouts, Guides and NCC, Ms. Gopi told reporters.
The Guruvayur Municipality had banned the use of disposable plastic shopping bags effective from July 1.
“Guruvayur Municipality with an area of 7.48 square km has a population of 22,000. But nearly 3.5 crore people visit Guruvayur every year. This makes enforcement of the plastic ban difficult,” she said.
It is not an easy task to change the practice of using plastic bags as they had become an inevitable part of modern life, she said. So the municipality decided to take a reformative path than a regulatory one to implement the ban.
“We conducted sustained campaigns to sensitise people on the ill-effects of using non-degradable plastic products, before banning them.”
Kudumbasree units were entrusted with the responsibility of producing paper and cloth bags to replace the plastic bags.
“Now 20 days into the ban, people have slowly started getting into the mood of using carry bags made of paper and cloth. Almost 90 per cent of the traders in the town have stopped using plastic bags. Health officials are keeping a close vigil on the shops and business establishments.”
The Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple stopped using plastic bags for supplying ‘prasadam' and instead started using cloth bags.
Billboards had been placed in offices, banks, bus stands, railway stations and national highways. Stickers were pasted on buses and other public vehicles.
“If the municipality's efforts become fruitful, the temple town will soon become a plastic-free zone,” she said.
Source:The Hindu 23 July 2010
The initiative is part of the civic body's efforts to free the town from the menace of plastics. An anti-plastics rally will also be taken out on the day.
Municipal chairperson Geetha Gopi said here on Thursday that all vehicles entering the town on Saturday would be checked for plastic bags. Cloth bags will be supplied to the passengers to replace the plastic bags.
The ‘plastics raid' would be conducted in collaboration with the police and the Motor Vehicles Department, in addition to volunteers of Scouts, Guides and NCC, Ms. Gopi told reporters.
The Guruvayur Municipality had banned the use of disposable plastic shopping bags effective from July 1.
“Guruvayur Municipality with an area of 7.48 square km has a population of 22,000. But nearly 3.5 crore people visit Guruvayur every year. This makes enforcement of the plastic ban difficult,” she said.
It is not an easy task to change the practice of using plastic bags as they had become an inevitable part of modern life, she said. So the municipality decided to take a reformative path than a regulatory one to implement the ban.
“We conducted sustained campaigns to sensitise people on the ill-effects of using non-degradable plastic products, before banning them.”
Kudumbasree units were entrusted with the responsibility of producing paper and cloth bags to replace the plastic bags.
“Now 20 days into the ban, people have slowly started getting into the mood of using carry bags made of paper and cloth. Almost 90 per cent of the traders in the town have stopped using plastic bags. Health officials are keeping a close vigil on the shops and business establishments.”
The Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple stopped using plastic bags for supplying ‘prasadam' and instead started using cloth bags.
Billboards had been placed in offices, banks, bus stands, railway stations and national highways. Stickers were pasted on buses and other public vehicles.
“If the municipality's efforts become fruitful, the temple town will soon become a plastic-free zone,” she said.
Source:The Hindu 23 July 2010
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