Although the State government’s ban on single-use plastic, came into force on 1 January, its impact is yet to be seen in Chrompet and surrounding areas, as a large number of businesses are still seemingly hesitant to look for alternatives.
According to residents, the use of plastic continues in secrecy at many shops, although they insist on bringing bags.
P Sentamizh of Zamin Pallavaram, said, “While the consumption has reduced drastically, I still find many small-scale vendors using the same. This can be witnessed every Friday at the Pallavaram market, where vegetables are secretly given in plastic bags. Once, I even asked one of the shopkeepers, as to what was the need to do so, even after the ban.”
He stated that people hardly bring bags and giving vegetables in covers satisfy people. “I feel, the rule has to be first implemented in this sandhai.”
“Even large commercial establishments are using non-woven polypropylene bags, which are in the banned list. These are similar to plastic, although they look like eco-friendly products. If authorities want to implement the rule effectively, they should first head to these shops and the hotels on GST road which blatantly violate the same,” rued M Murugan who resides close to Pallavaram flyover.
When this reporter went to a couple of neighbourhood shops, he was surprised to see certain sellers wrapping plastic-packed items using newspapers.
One of them who wished to be anonymous, said, “What can we do? We can sell only what the suppliers give us.”