Plastic ban sees mixed response
More worried are those who have bought machines on money borrowed from banks. For their concern is how to repay it? Plastic business is said to be worth Rs 3000 crore and doing nothing about it has its own concerns.
S Vishnu Sharmaa, INN/Chennai, @svs037
Need for adequate preparation seen
The decision to ban plastic by Tamil Nadu government has seen a welcome trend among the people. Not many also seem to have gone in favour of this. For people who have been associated with plastic manufacturing this ban seems to have not so happy developments in store for them.
Good number of them recollect the demonetisation drive taken up in the past which saw withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 all of a sudden. This did not go well with certain sections as their revenue sources dried up owing to the withdrawal of high denomination notes.
Amongst the troubled lot are those who have invested heavily in the machines which are used in making plastic products. The grace time of six months provided prior to the ban is not adequate. What is to be done with these machines? How to get back the money invested on them? Are the questions worrying them.
More worried are those who have bought machines on money borrowed from banks. For their concern is how to repay it? Plastic business is said to be worth Rs 3000 crore and doing nothing about it has its own concerns. Plastic business provides an employment to more than five lakh people in the state and they could go unemployed.
Appeal by businessmen in the plastic trade seems to have given no response from the state government. It is heard that many of them have decided to go to court as their efforts to get an appropriate response from the state government did not yield results.
Tamil Nadu Plastic Manufacturers Association secretary says they have approached Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and other officials only to get a no satisfactory response. S Rakkappan
Businessmen running eateries and snack centres say lack of plastic is not going well with them too. Plastic is the only thing that can help retain freshness of the food. Take chips for example, they would remain fresh and crispy when packed in a plastic cover, they say.
, a shopkeeper says the alternative bags available online are quite pricey. Purchasing them can push up the prices of the products and bring down the profits subsequently.Balakumar P
A couple of voluntary organisations feel the ban will do nothing much. What is to be done is to generate awareness and motivate the people to say no to plastic. Alternatives like paperbags, organic bags are not available in enough numbers as of now.
Tamil Nadu Principal Secretary of Environment and Forests department says the state government is working towards bringing down the plastic usage to zero in Tamil Nadu.
They are preparing a framework to focus on multilayer plastic products with an intention to regulate that. We hope to see Tamil Nadu a state free of plastic soon and the state government is committed towards this.Shambu Kallolikar
Seeing the ban on plastic on a brighter note Secretary, Exnora International (North Chennai) says there is a need to give a better tomorrow to the future generations and that can happen if our environment remains intact.
We should do everything possible to save it. Our organisation has been working along with Chennai Corporation for quite sometime now to enhance awareness on environment conservation among the school students in particular, he says.FatehRaj Jain