Saturday, 10 July 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is planning to start imposing penalties on local residents and shopkeepers violating the ban on single-use plastics. With each Covid-19 wave so far, the consumption of single-use plastic has grown in Dehradun which had declined considerably before the Covid pandemic began last year. Last year, the Uttarakhand Government lifted the plastic ban during the pandemic to provide essential products and services to the needy like medicines, dry ration and food which caused a rise in the utilisation of single-use plastic. Though the government reinstated the plastic ban in February this year, local shopkeepers, vendors and consumers can be seen using single-use plastic every day. In April, the municipal corporation launched an anti-plastic campaign and started taking action against the violation of single use plastic ban but it had to stop after Covid curfew was implemented in the city. Now, the corporation is planning to relaunch the anti-plastic campaign in the city. However, official sources informed that the corporation has to face flak from local shopkeepers when MCD takes action against the violation of plastic ban in marketplaces right after lockdown or Covid curfew.
A few weeks ago when a team of MCD imposed penalties on shopkeepers and vendors for using single-use plastic, the local shopkeepers became aggravated and called it harassment of small businessmen during the Covid crisis. Talking about the anti-plastic campaign, the chief municipal health officer, Dr Kailash Joshi said that markets have been opened recently after the government provided some relaxations in Covid guidelines. After raising awareness among locals against the use of single-use plastic for some time, the MCD will start imposing penalties on plastic ban violations by the end of this month, informed Joshi.
