Authorities of the Lingaraj Temple have decided to ban the use of plastic items on the temple premises here.

To implement the ban effectively, the temple administration will provide paper bags as an alternative, a source said. Restrictions will be imposed on carrying polythene bags, plastic glass and plastic pot on the temple premises.

A meeting was held on Tuesday, including officials of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the temple administration, following which a number of decisions were taken to enforce the plastic ban. “Vendors near the temple will purchase the paper bags from the administration and the devotees will use them to carry flowers and leaves in the temple,” said BMC deputy commissioner Srimanta Mishra.

The state government has decided to strictly enforce the ban on use of polythene bags with the month-long deadline ending on Wednesday.

A number of local temples in the city are also taking similar initiatives. “Temples are one of those places where plastic is used abundantly but one can easily do away with the practice by taking little initiatives. So, we have decided to discard plastic items and also asked the vendors in the area to do the same,” said Jagmohan Mishra, head priest at Jagannath Temple at Khandagiri.

The state government will strictly enforce the ban in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur municipal corporations and the Puri municipality from Thursday.

Earlier, the state government had announced a ban on plastic and polythene bags in the state from Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 and conducted a month-long awareness drive, which ends on Wednesday.

“Single use plastic bags are a threat to the environment, they clog drains affecting discharge of water, they contaminate the soil, create health hazards for humans and animals. We have come to a stage where we need to change our cultural attitude towards using plastics and re-use, recycle and refuse plastics as much as we can,” said social activist Rudra Narayan Samanataray.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation on Wednesday came up with the list of spot fine to be levied on those using the banned plastic items. The fine amount ranges from Rs 200 upto Rs 50000 or criminal proceedings against the violators.

The items such as compostable bags, plastic articles with minimum and above 50 micron used to store milk, food, edible oil are exempted from the banned items.

According to the notification issued by the civic body, spot fine of Rs 200 will be levied on local residents for first instance, Rs 500 for second and Rs 1000 for third instance. Other categories included in the list are shopkeepers, restaurant owners, hotel owners, industrial establishments and commercial establishments.