The district administration and the civic authority had discussed the issue with polythene traders of Berhampur and officials of the Ganjam Chamber of Commerce and sought the traders’ co-operation to make Berhampur plastic free in July. The administration had advised the traders to use cotton and paper bags as alternatives.
The district administration declared to make Berhampur and Gopalpur polythene free on November 23, 2016. A fine of Rs 18,000 was also collected from various traders for using polythene bags.
The use of plastic cups, glasses and polythene bags are banned in the municipal corporation limits from Tuesday.
Ganjam district collector Vijay Amrit Kulange, who is also the Berhampur Municipal Corporation administrator, has sought co-operation from the public in implementing the ban. “On Tuesday, we took out a rally and marathon to urge the general public not to use plastic cups, glasses and polythene bags. The positive side of the campaign is that most of the people are realising it,” said Kulange. Sprinter Dutee Chand flagged-off the marathon.
Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik said plastic and polythene were polluting the environment. “After Maharashtra and Uttar Pra-desh, the Odisha government has come forward in banning the use of plastic.,” he said.
The departments of housing and urban development and panchayati raj have been asked to execute the order in the urban and rural areas, respectively. The forest and environment department will monitor plastic pollution control across the state. “Odisha generates about 27,859 tonnes of plastic waste per annum, and this is a historic decision to ban plastic and polythene,” the MLA said.
Save Earth mission: Volunteers take part in a marathon to create awareness against the use of plastic items in Berhampur on Tuesday Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy