Plastic ban comes into force in Telangana

Hyderabad: Use of carry bags and Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) below 75 microns thickness is now officially banned in the State, with the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department issuing orders giving effect to the ban from Thursday. Simultaneously, the department is gearing up to implement the orders strictly across the State. Besides the ban on plastic less than 75 microns, use of carry bags and SUPs below 120 microns thickness will be banned from July 1 2022.

Commissioner and Director Municipal Administration (CDMA) N Satyanarayana issued directions to municipalities and municipal corporations in the State to implement these orders effectively. An action plan for ban and elimination on the use of carry bags below 75 microns has been prepared with specific timelines. The Central Pollution Control Board issued these orders as part of effective plastic waste management rules framed in 2016. Manufacturers and traders have already been informed about these regulations. The ban was scheduled to come into force on September 30 but was delayed due to rains and other reasons, an official from CDMA said.

Accordingly, the municipalities and municipal corporations have been instructed to constitute a city-level task force comprising Municipal Commissioners, Health Officers, Sanitary Supervisors, Sanitary Inspectors, representatives of two NGOs and one police constable for effective implementation of the ban.

As part of these orders, the municipalities and municipal corporations have also been directed to set up a plastic waste management cell at the Urban Local Body (ULB) level. In addition to conducting awareness programmes to sensitise people on the adverse impact of SUP on the environment and promotion of cloth bags, officials have been directed to conduct raids twice weekly on implementation of ban from October 22 to ensure that the banned carry bags or SUP are not in use.

Source segregation

The Municipal Administration Department is also focusing on effective implementation of door-to-door collection of waste, including source segregation to ensure scientific disposal of the collected waste from October 22. This exercise will be implemented in three phases beginning with commercial and bulk waste generators, followed by residential colonies (from November 1) and slums (from November 18). Subsequently, officials will now have to prepare a list of bulk waste generators in respective municipalities and corporations, installing twin litter bins for every 100 to 200 metres depending on the population density of the ULB. In the case of bulk waste generators, officials have been instructed to make the managements install an in-situ composting system by November 15.

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