Big stores happily violate plastic ban in Chennai
When Express visited T-Nagar Saravana Stores on Sunday, staff were seen handing out plastic bags of varying sizes depending on purchases.
Published: 14th January 2019 06:46 AM
A customer walking away with her purchases packed in a plastic cover from T-Nagar Saravana Stores, in Chennai on Sunday | P Jawahar
Express News Service
CHENNAI: Does the plastic ban apply only to small and medium scale vendors? While the city Corporation is taking smaller stores to task for not following the ban, retail giants such as Saravana Stores and Jeyachandran Stores are distributing plastic bags generously to their customers.
When Express visited T-Nagar Saravana Stores on Sunday, staff were seen handing out plastic bags of varying sizes depending on purchases.
When asked about the ban, senior staff at the store said: “This is only for today... We are giving away plastic bags to clear off stock. After that we will use 100 per cent compostable bags that are organic,” the staff said. Similarly, a senior staff of Jeyachandran stores in Usman road said that he has received orders from superiors to give away plastic bags until today. Pongal shopping rush was high on Sunday.
"We will be switching to cloth bags after this. The plastic bags are being used only for one day today," the staff said. Single-use, non-biodegradable plastic bags have been banned in the State since January 1.
The stores giving out plastic bags were counting on an exemption from strict enforcement owing to Pongal shopping rush. “We have requested officials for some leeway during Pongal sales and they have agreed,” claimed the Saravana Stores store manager.
Corporation officials denied the claims. "No such exemptions have been given to anyone. Inspections are going on in the premises of violators," said a senior Corporation official.
The Corporation, on Thursday alone, seized 5,121 kg of banned plastic from all 15 zones. A senior Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) official said that the onus was on the civic body to carry out strict enforcement of the ban. Can they rein in the big stores?
When Express visited T-Nagar Saravana Stores on Sunday, staff were seen handing out plastic bags of varying sizes depending on purchases.
Published: 14th January 2019 06:46 AM
A customer walking away with her purchases packed in a plastic cover from T-Nagar Saravana Stores, in Chennai on Sunday | P Jawahar
Express News Service
CHENNAI: Does the plastic ban apply only to small and medium scale vendors? While the city Corporation is taking smaller stores to task for not following the ban, retail giants such as Saravana Stores and Jeyachandran Stores are distributing plastic bags generously to their customers.
When Express visited T-Nagar Saravana Stores on Sunday, staff were seen handing out plastic bags of varying sizes depending on purchases.
When asked about the ban, senior staff at the store said: “This is only for today... We are giving away plastic bags to clear off stock. After that we will use 100 per cent compostable bags that are organic,” the staff said. Similarly, a senior staff of Jeyachandran stores in Usman road said that he has received orders from superiors to give away plastic bags until today. Pongal shopping rush was high on Sunday.
"We will be switching to cloth bags after this. The plastic bags are being used only for one day today," the staff said. Single-use, non-biodegradable plastic bags have been banned in the State since January 1.
The stores giving out plastic bags were counting on an exemption from strict enforcement owing to Pongal shopping rush. “We have requested officials for some leeway during Pongal sales and they have agreed,” claimed the Saravana Stores store manager.
Corporation officials denied the claims. "No such exemptions have been given to anyone. Inspections are going on in the premises of violators," said a senior Corporation official.
The Corporation, on Thursday alone, seized 5,121 kg of banned plastic from all 15 zones. A senior Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) official said that the onus was on the civic body to carry out strict enforcement of the ban. Can they rein in the big stores?
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