Navi Mumbai mall found using banned plastic bags amid crackdown

Between July 1 to 7, a total of 15 shops were found to be using the banned plastic bags. A fine of Rs 75,000 was levied on these shopkeepers and nearly 34 kilos of the banned goods were confiscated.

Date: July 15, 2024

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has initiated many activities around the city to encourage people to ditch plastic for the last few years. However, a recent video on social media revealed a contradictory situation where the Nexus Mall authorities in Seawoods have kept a vending machine of plastic bags to cover umbrellas during the monsoon.

A user on X (formerly known as Twitter) posted the video on July 13 and captioned, “It seemed like there was a shortage of single-use plastic on this planet, but these mall owners fulfil it. @NMMConline @NMMCCommr Almost every day you catch shopkeepers who stock single-used plastic then why you excluded them???”

It is pertinent to note that this comes at a time when NMMC revived its action against the use of single-use plastic by vendors and other commercial establishments.

Between July 1 to 7, a total of 15 shops were found to be using the banned plastic bags. A fine of amount Rs 75,000 was levied on these shopkeepers and nearly 34 kilos of the banned goods were confiscated.

The decision to take stringent measures against the use of banned plastic bags is being taken to ensure both shopkeepers as well as residents use cloth bags for shopping purposes.

Officers are regularly conducting sudden inspections and raids to confiscate the banned goods.

The week-long drive was conducted in each of the wards in Belapur 4 shops were fined Rs 20,000 and nearly 8 kilos of plastic bags were confiscated. Similarly, at Nerul ward 2 shops were found to have the bags and were fined accordingly.

In the week-long drive, special squads formed at a zonal level were also actively involved to seize the banned goods.

Zone I squad succeeded in seizing 20 kilos of banned goods likewise the zone II confiscated 1.5 kilos goods. Both the zones have further levied fines on those stocking these, the official said.

A ban on single-use plastic bags below 50 microns has been in place since 2006 whereas from 2018 the ban was extended further to all kinds of plastics and even thermocol. Therefore, anyone found using this is liable for stringent punishment.