Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Wednesday said that to ensure a complete ban on single-use plastics in the state, regular monitoring and raids should be conducted on manufacturing units as well as major wholesalers and suppliers. Besides this, extensive IEC activities should be accelerated to spread awareness among the masses.
Kaushal said this while presiding over the review meeting of the 2nd Special Task Force Committee, constituted to ban and completely eliminate single-use plastic at the state level. Additional Chief Secretary, Science and Technology Department, Ashok Khemka, Deputy Commissioners and Municipal Commissioners also attended the meeting through VC.
The chief secretary said that plastic manufacturing units should be identified at the district level and dedicated efforts should be made to completely ban the use of single-use plastic. Apart from this, checking should also be conducted on wholesalers and retailers. He said that plastic coming from outside the state should also be strictly stopped. An awareness campaign should be conducted with the help of trader associations and shopkeepers to spread awareness among the masses, he said.
Subsidy on plastic recycling and infrastructure units
Kaushal said that polythene has an adverse effect on the environment. The government has put a complete ban on the manufacturing, stocking, distribution and sale of plastic. He said that under the Plastic Waste Management Policy, plastic recycling and infrastructure units using alternative means would be set up and a subsidy would be provided to them.
Task force committees constituted
He said that a special task force has been constituted at the state level. Apart from this, a district-level task force under the chairmanship of deputy commissioners and city-level task force under the chairmanship of municipal commissioners has been constituted. A detailed action plan for plastic waste management has been prepared by the Urban Local Bodies Department in collaboration with other departments.
Citizen Mobile App launched
Kaushal said that Citizen Mobile App for Complaint Management System has been launched to register complaints of urban area citizens. Through this, any citizen can file a complaint about anyone using or selling plastic products. Citizens can register complaints regarding the burning of plastic waste, dumping of plastic waste, distribution, stock, sale and use, etc on this mobile app.
Rs 43,20,250 recovered as challan fine
The chief secretary said that under the campaign being run across the state, an amount of Rs 43,20,250 has been recovered through 3904 challans during the month of July.
Principal Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department, Arun Kumar Gupta; Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Vijayendra Kumar; Director, Urban Local Bodies, D K Behera; Director, Elementary Education, Anshaj Singh; Director, Development and Panchayats, Dhirendra Khadgata; Member Secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, S. Narayanan and other officers were present in the meeting.