Use cloth bags, on return get Rs 10 back in Chennai suburb

Chennai: Going green and banning plastic has been the hot topic in the past few days, and everyone has a role to make this movement a success.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has also announced that usage of plastic will be banned in Tamilnadu from January 2019.

While it is the responsibility of the public to make sure they reduce the usage of the plastics, traders play a crucial role in it.

Understanding their responsibility, the Madambakkam Viyabarikal Sangam in the city suburban area has come up with a novel idea and has asked 500 shops coming under its limit not to sell plastic bags.

Speaking to News Today, Madambakkam Viyabarikal Sangam president N C Selvakumr said even after Madambakkam Town Panchayat declared a plastic ban in the locality, the usage could not be reduced.

“We wanted to do something about this. So, we came up with the idea of giving cloth bags at subsidised rates to the shops which can be reused by the customers,” he said.

He further said, the actual cost of the bag is Rs 25, but after seeking help from few sponsors, we are giving it for Rs 10 to the shopkeepers.

“One bag can hold upto 25 kgs of groceries. So far, we have given 5,000 bags and based on the feedback we will try to increase the numbers. We have also adviced the shopkeepers to refund the amount (Rs 10) if customer returns back the bag. By this way people will get used to this and the usage of plastic can also be reduced,” he said, and added that using one cloth bag can reduce up to 10 kgs of plastic bags used per month.

A meeting regarding this was held in the locality in which the shopkeepers took part and the ill effects of plastic was explained to them. Though residents seem to be happy about this initiative they are skeptical about how long this will continue.

Balaji, a resident said usage of plastic was banned a couple of years ago in Madambakkam. “However, it was not implemented/followed with much effect. Even during that time 500 cloth bags were given by Panchayat officials and it was even said special teams would inspect the shops regularly and traders using plastic bags would be fined. But I am not sure how successful it was,” he added. He further said now the traders have themselves took up the initiative, lets hope for the best.