Gurugram societies take lead in not using plastic

Gurugram: Long before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a clarion call to ban single-use plastic from the ramparts of Red Fort on the Independence Day, the Gurugram administration had already banned the use of plastic.

Despite the ban, the use of plastic continues in the city. Now with the calls of not using plstic again gaining stream, the Gurugram societies have begun taking the lead in not using the plastic goods.

The Fresco Society located in Sector-50 area has already put a rule that no person with plastic will be allowed to come inside the society.

Moreover, all the members of the society are being distributed with the cloth bags so that they can do the purchases of their groceries in the cloth bag than the plastic.

The Municipal Corporation of Gururgam (MCG) intends to hold various sessions explaining the shopkeepers and even the buyers of the detrimental consequences of using the plastic following which it plans to take action.

"It is okay to levy fine the hardworking shopkeepers and add to the government exchequer but does the public agency have enough options and solutions. They should first create a mechanism where there are alternatives for plastic. As of now, they are just levying fines," said Om Prakash one of the shopowners of the

city.

There are various schemes that have been launched in the past by the MCG to prevent the usage of plastic.

In one of the most difficult tasks being undertaken by the Municipal body, the public agency has formally decided to make Sadar Bazaar the plastic-free zone. It was however not a success and after certain fines being levied, it was all back to square one of persons using plastic.

Being the oldest market in the city there are a lot of market owners who are used to providing polythene.

Moreover, there is a large wholesale vegetable market (mandi) where polythene is still preferred not only by the vendors but thousands of buyers who visit the area.