Chennai, Oct 14:
Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G S Sameeran, who is also chairman of the Greater Chennai Region Special Task Force, reviewed the enforcement of the ban on single-use plastic items across Chennai at a meeting held at Ripon Building on Tuesday.
The third review meeting examined enforcement measures to prevent the sale and use of 28 banned single-use plastic items, awareness programmes conducted in schools and colleges and among the public, and the responsibilities of various departments involved in implementing the ban.
According to officials, the Corporation had inspected 13.17 lakh commercial establishments since the ban was introduced in 2019, up to October 8, 2026. During this period, 499 tonnes of banned plastic items had been seized and fines amounting to Rs 9.40 crore collected from violators.
The Corporation had also distributed more than 1.52 lakh cloth bags to students and members of the public as part of efforts to encourage alternatives to single-use plastics.
During the meeting, Sameeran instructed all departments concerned to coordinate their efforts to prevent the transportation of banned plastic items into Chennai and strengthen enforcement.
The public was urged to avoid banned plastic products, switch to eco-friendly alternatives such as cloth bags and cooperate with the authorities in creating a plastic-free Chennai.
Deputy Commissioner (Health) Thakare Shubam Dnyandeorao, Joint Commissioner of Police (North) M Manohar, Task Force Coordinator and District Environment Engineer P Suganthi Rani, and other members of the task force attended the meeting.