CHENNAI: Koyambedu Wholesale Market, one of Asia’s largest perishable commodities wholesale market, is undergoing surprise checks by officials, who hope to put an end to use of single-use plastic bags by the end of the month.
On Monday, Environment secretary Supriya Sahu, along with officials from German Agency for International Cooperation or (GIZ), an international enterprise-owned by the German Federal Government, and chief administrative officer of market management committee (MMC) S Shanthi visited the flower market to ensure alternate mechanisms to pack flowers. The initiative is also backed by Housing Secretary Hitesh kumar Makwana and CMDA member secretary Anshul Mishra.
M Krishnakumar, Avvai Village Welfare Society secretary, who is working with GIZ in coming out with an alternative to stop the use of plastic bags, said the idea is to popularise the Manjappai initiative. Avvai has been spreading awareness among the traders and he came with 10,000 manjapais (yellow bags), which were distributed to traders.
Cost is a concern as plastic bags are cheaper compared to cloth or jute bags. So, the Avvai Village Welfare Society has come out with an idea to produce the bag in bulk and is banking on women self-help groups. “These should be manufactured on a large scale so that the price can come down to `4-`5. These bags should be recycled,” he said.
Meanwhile, 90% of the traders have already said goodbye to single-use plastic. The ones still using it are trying to get rid of old stock. S Chandran, President of Koyambedu Vegetable Wholesale Merchants Association, said though the initiative is good, it can only succeed if the government puts an end to manufacture of plastic bags and initiate action against the manufacturers. “This would ensure a complete ban on such products rather than targeting a few shops,” he said.
Mookaiyan, secretary of Koyambedu Flower Wholesale Market Association, said the plastic free exercise has been successful in the flower market. Many traders are using alternates like lotus leaves or dry banana leaf to parcel the flowers. Similarly, cloth bags are being encouraged. Usually, in a day a single two-wheeler trader would use 15 to 20 bags to carry the flowers to the urban areas. Now this has dropped.
Shanthi said MMC is taking every effort to ensure the market is plastic-free. “We have been sealing shops using plastic bags. We plan to become a plastic-free wholesale market by the end of the month,” she said.