BENGALURU: Although the sale of plastic flags has reduced, many shops in the city have found a way around it by selling paper flags on plastic straws, which Mayor Gangabike says, defeats the entire purpose. The straws are single-use and will end up in landfills, she added.Manoj Kumar, member secretary of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board said plastic straws, in any form, have been banned.
Notorious for the sale of plastic knick-knacks, a few stores in Mamulpet continued the sale of plastic flags as bunting, but most of them switched to paper or cloth flags.To save costs, many resort to the use plastic straws as poles. Sundar (name changed), a store-owner in Chikpet said, “If someone has a mass order, without the use of plastic straws we will be unable to offer them an affordable price. If nobody is willing to buy flags at `10-`15 a piece, how do we make a living?”
Even after the plastic ban in the city and many awareness campaigns by both NGOs and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, plastic flags and other single-use plastic materials are still being used. “Ultimately, we need people’s support in this initiative,” the Mayor said.
The Mayor said new bylaws will be brought into effect next month following which trade licenses of vendors who use and sell single use plastic, can be suspended. Under the new bylaws, people found carrying plastic items will be fined up to `1,000.
The current stock of flags with plastic will be seized said Special Commissioner at the BBMP Randeep D. “We have weekly meeting and we will do our best to ensure that this plastic is off the street,”he said.