BJP, Sena push for total ban on plastic bags

With civic authorities identifying choked storm water drains as the primary reason for severe water logging that brought the city to a standstill on Tuesday, clamour for a complete ban on plastic bags in Mumbai has been growing.

While there is already a ban in Maharashtra on plastic bags less than 50 microns in thickness, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, who share power in the state and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), have both been advocating a complete ban on plastic bags in the wake of Tuesday’s water logging episode.

According to the BMC, discarded plastic carry bags and thermocol glasses and dishes were responsible for the severe water logging seen across the city, as they choked drains and prevented free flow of rain water. The city had received around 315 mm rainfall on Tuesday, the highest amount of rainfall received in a single day in Mumbai since the July 26, 2005 deluge. Addressing a press conference a day after torrential rains had battered the city, even BMC chief Ajoy Mehta had claimed that plastic rubbish was largely responsible for blocked drains. Turn to P4

BMC’s solid waste management (SWM) department said it had to remove around 1,900 MT tonnes of …read more