Plastic ban enforcement intensified in Meghalaya

Correspondent

SHILLONG: In a major crackdown on violators of the plastic ban, officers from the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) and the Enforcement Wing of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) conducted joint inspections at Bus Stand and Mawroh, warning vendors and seizing banned items in a high-impact operation that is part of a larger state-wide enforcement effort.

MSPCB Chairman R. Nainamalai, present during the inspection, stated, “As we all know, there is a ban on single-use plastic and the plastic having thickness of less than 120 micron. It is being strictly imposed across the country. Meghalaya Government has constituted a District Level Special Task Force for all the districts, wherein the members of the district administration, Police, Urban Affairs Department and Meghalaya Pollution Control Board and a regular surprise inspection is being carried out to see if the single use plastic are being used and some action is also being taken.”

He added, “For the state of Meghalaya more than 2 metric ton of plastic has been seized from different districts and we are also giving awareness of not using these plastic and also to encourage the use of cloth bags which is environment friendly.”

During the raid, teams uncovered a mix of compliance and violation. “There are some plastic with the QR Code and CPCB registration, so during inspection these are found from the vendors. Small vendors are still using single use plastic, but the team has given them strict warning for not using single use plastic,” Nainamalai confirmed.

The enforcement is part of a wider operation that has covered major market hubs across Meghalaya. “Raid has been done in major important market areas like Mawlai, Laitumukhrah, Police Bazaar, Bara Bazaar similarly other towns like Tura, prominent locations,” he noted.

Nainamalai concluded, “They are also trying to find out alternatives instead of using single use plastic. In the inspection we found that people are aware of the harmful effect of single use plastic.”

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