Anti-plastic drive: ‘Mana Vijayawada’ launched
VIJAYAWADA: With its ‘Mana Vijayawada’ campaign, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) aims to put an end to plastic menace, once and for all. At a coordination meeting with the police, civic officials, APSRTC and other stakeholders, VMC special officer and district collector A Md Imtiaz, who launched the drive at his camp office here on Tuesday, discussed in length the measures to be taken to eradicate plastic usage completely from the city.
Speaking on the occasion, the special officer called on the public to take active part in the campaign and informed that a gazette would be released in the next few days. He said supermarkets and shopping malls would be given a week’s time to procure cloth and jute bags and, in this regard, a meeting with Legal Metrology officials would be held to decide on their price.
As per the action plan presented at the meeting, enforcement teams, comprising police, revenue and VMC officals, will conduct surprise checks on traders and plastic bag manufacturing units over the next three months and hefty fines would be imposed on them if they failed to cooperate with the administration.
During the course of the meeting, the collector asked Durga temple executive officer V Koteswaramma to ensure that prasadam are sold in packets made of cloth and cleanliness on Durga Ghat is regularly maintained.
He proposed plastic recycling units at bus station and railway station. Later, he and municipal commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh interacted with residential welfare associations, hoteliers, shopping mall and supermarket owners, and Vijayawada Chamber of Commerce representatives; and sought their support.
Imtiaz also announced that traders who eliminate plastic from their stores completely would be appointed brand ambassadors of the campaign. Environmentalist Ajay Katragadda, who was also present, however, said the biggest threat to the ‘already wobbly movement’ was lack of political will. “The entire hall (referring to the room where the meet was held) is filled with products made of plastic... Plastic is an integral part of our civilisation and lifestyle.” Meanwhile, other participants welcomed the move and said they would make efforts to rid their colonies of plastic.