Chennai: Tamilnadu Chief Minister M K Stalin today launched ‘Meendum Manjapai’, a campaign encouraging people to discard plastic bags and revert to using traditional yellow cloth bag at the Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai.
The campaign known as ‘Meendum Manjapai Vizhipunarvu Iyakkam’ (Back to Yellow Cloth Bag Awareness Campaign) was kicked off by Stalin as his government stresses the need to get back to healthy practices to protect the environment.
The campaign aims at encouraging people to use cloth bags for shopping and other activities instead of those made of plastic. The Tamilnadu government had imposed a ban on plastic with effect from 1 January, 2019, but the GO is not being followed on the ground.
The State Environment department has taken steps to strictly implement plastic ban and create awareness among all stakeholders.
‘We have started visiting areas where such plastic items are used in large numbers and speak to locals about its adverse impact on environment,’ said an official.
The department has issued orders to all district administration officers to enforce strict measures for the use of polythene covers.