The civic body has started making plans to impose the ban on single-use plastic in the city as enforcement of the prohibition began on Tuesday.
The government has banned use of plastic in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Puri from October 2 and intends to extend the ban to other cities as well in a phase-wise manner.
To begin with, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation is going to collaborate with officials of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board and the district administration and put up camps at malls, market areas and other such places to create awareness among people on the harmful impacts of plastic on the environment.
“Top officials will head the camps and reach out to people to make them realise the bad impact of plastic on them as well as on environment,” said deputy civic commissioner Srimanta Mishra.
He said that various committees would be formed to implement the ban. “We will also form a special enforcement squad, which will solely look after the matter. The enforcement will be done after the sensitisation camps,” said the deputy commissioner.
People on the other hand remained sceptical about the alternative to plastic. “We are used to plastic these days. We want to get rid of it. But that is a very difficult choice. We need to take the challenge with dedication,” Mamata Jena, a shopper at Unit-I Market, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.
Vendors and shopkeepers also expressed doubts over the possibility of implementation of the ban. “We deny plastic carry bags to our customers at times. But they threaten to leave our shops if we do not provide them with polythene carry bags,” said Prafulla Das, an Omfed shop owner at Fire Station Square.
The civic body and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority have already decided to install reverse vending machines at malls and market places where pet bottles can be dumped by users. “We are going to come up with more such plans in future to implement the ban on single-use plastic. We are aware that implementation of the ban is not going to be easy, but we need the support of our citizens,” said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
