Struggling to impose a complete ban on the use of plastic carry bags in the city, the municipal corporation (MC) has commenced a drive against the same and issued 72 challans against shopkeepers in the last two days.
The civic body issued 20 challans of ₹2,000 each on Tuesday and 50 on Wednesday. The MC teams collected 63 kg of banned carry bags, out of which 55 kg were confiscated on Wednesday.
They conducted raids in different markets, including Field Ganj under Zone A, Jeewan Nagar under Zone B, Janta Nagar market under Zone C, and Dugri and Jawahar Nagar market under Zone D.
As per the officials, the drive has been initiated on the directions of mayor Balkar Sandhu, as plastic carry bags dumped on the roads choke drain/sewer lines during monsoon season.
Ashwani Sahota nodal office, health branch, said the drive will continue in the coming days, and MC will take strict action against the violators.
The state government had imposed a complete ban on the use of plastic carry bags in April 2016, but the civic body has been struggling to implement the same in the city. The drives initiated in the past got derailed either due to political pressure or resentment shown by the traders.
One of the officials, requesting anonymity, said the civic body conducts such drives only when the higher authorities or local bodies department issue directions regarding the same. To impose a complete ban, MC and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) need to take coordinated action against the manufacturing and trading of carry bags, he added.
