VIJAYAWADA: Even as officials claim to have intensified measures to curb single-use plastic across Vijayawada, the ground situation paints a different picture.
Plastic use continues unabated in almost every corner of the city, with carry bags, cups, and disposable packaging flooding markets. Far from the strict enforcement promised by municipal authorities, on-ground checks remain weak, sporadic, and largely ineffective.
Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu had announced a complete ban on single-use plastic in 17 major urban local bodies, including Vijayawada, from October 2.
Following the directive, officials initially launched a series of raids and seized banned plastic items from several shops.
However, the momentum seems to be fizzling out within weeks. With enforcement teams no longer seen on the ground, plastic products have made a strong comeback not just in commercial hubs but across markets, roadside stalls, and residential localities.
From street vendors and flower markets to fruit stalls, tiffin centres, and hotels, the use of banned plastic is widespread.
Vendors openly hand out carry bags without any hesitation or fear of penalties. Activists argue that the enforcement model itself is fundamentally flawed. The ban was intended to target wholesalers and manufacturers, the real sources of plastic circulation, but officials continue to focus only on small traders and pushcart vendors.
The wholesalers and manufacturers, who are the primary suppliers of banned carry bags and disposable items, remain largely unregulated and unmonitored, and their supply chains are rarely inspected.
This has become largely symbolic, with little real impact. Activists allege that authorities have failed to trace supply chains, conduct checks at godowns, or seize stock from bulk distributors.
As a result, banned plastic continues to pour into the city in large quantities, making enforcement at the retail level pointless.
Vijayawada generates approximately 600 tonnes of garbage daily, with nearly 20 percent of it being plastic, resulting in worsening pollution and drainage blockages.
Speaking to the TNIE, Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Dr K Arjuna Rao said, “10 enforcement teams have been working for the past three months across the city to conduct raids, checks, and seize plastic items. Recently, the District Joint Collector issued a circular for forming a special committee towards intensifying the plastic ban. The VMC is working tirelessly to make Vijayawada city plastic-free.”