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Time of India

DMC begins yet another plastic-free drive as Doon mkts flood with single-use plastic

Dehradun: Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) from Wednesday onwards began yet another plastic-free campaign in the capital, named Plastic Free Doon , aimed at eradicating single-use plastic and creating mass awareness about the use of prohibited despite several such campaigns, single-use plastic continues to be used rampantly across the city. India banned the manufacturing, import, distribution, sale, and usage of single-use plastic up to 100 microns from July 1, 2022. Despite these regulations, the use of prohibited products remains widespread in the city. Initially, strict enforcement by the DMC led to adherence to the regulations, but violations allegedly increased over often claim that the lack of action against violations bolsters them to continue using these bags. "In the past, when we refrained from using polythene bags, we lost customers. If all shopkeepers stop using it, then we have no issues, but if just a few of us stop, our regular customers go elsewhere," said a dairy owner, requesting anonymity, on Rajpur issue is well known to authorities who admitted that the products remain in circulation. "Through this campaign, we will not only start implementing the ban but also penalise the violators as we did in the past. We will do so even more regularly now. Another part of the campaign would be to create mass awareness amongst the public to prevent them from using these products," said DMC health officer, Dr Avinash is also working on a four-bin policy aimed at source segregation , which would greatly help with plastic waste management, claim a member of Dehradun Citizens' Forum, Radha, said that none of these campaigns will create a lasting effect unless the implementation is greatly strengthened. "We spoke to authorities earlier about preventing these polythene bags from entering Dehradun and the manufacture of plastic granules. All departments have to act collectively against this menace. Violators have to be penalised and made examples of, while public awareness also needs to be increased exponentially," she have been calling for source segregation for a while and also urging DMC to strengthen the door-to-door collection system that will help address the menace of public dumping of garbage and issues contributing to the use of single-use plastic.