According to sources in a renewed attempt to curb plastic menace in Bengaluru, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to slap a Rs 500 fine on consumers if spotted with a plastic bag in the city. Meanwhile for subsequent violations, users will be fined Rs 1,000. Earlier an official of the BBMP said although the ban of plastic below 40 microns was announced in 2015, the Palike has been enforcing it only since World Environment Day (June 5).
As per report previously, only commercial establishments were raided and penalized. Furthermore the BBMP has been on an overdrive three years after it had officially introduced a blanket ban on plastics. Earlier on July 26, a total of 1.5 lakh tonnes of plastics were seized by officials from retail outlets located in Avenue Road, KR Market and Neelasandra. Moreover Palike had imposed fines of Rs 10,000 on small vendors and up to Rs 1 lakh on large businesses for using plastic despite the ban.
Reports stated that the BBMP is planning to build
an integrated portal and hire contract based junior health inspectors, who will
be armed with handheld devices at the ward level, to issue receipts of fine and
also record incidents and photographs of violation along with a timestamp. Furthermore
on July 9, Karnataka Deputy CM and Bengaluru Development Minister G
Parameshwara had warned that establishments using plastic will lose their trade
licenses if they are found violating the plastic ban.