Bengaluru: Karnataka Pollution Board raids organised retail stores for single-use plastic

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on Wednesday conducted a series of raids in Bengaluru on organised retail shops for use of single-use plastic.

Led by Dr K Sudhakar, Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the surprise raids were conducted at popular retail chains - Nature’s Basket, Easyshop, Namdari Fresh and Niligiris Supermarkets in the city upmarket areas on Brigade Road and Sadashivanagar.

After the raids, Dr Sudhakar told reporters that several shops in organised sector in Bengaluru have been using banned plastic (single-use plastic) to package fresh fruits and vegetables.

“This is against the Environment Act. We will take necessary actions to deal with issue based on the Act. Closure notices will be issued to the owners of the supermarkets and legal actions will be taken against zonal health officers of BBMP, who were supposed to monitor the use of plastic,” he said.

Dr Sudhakar also said “The board has begun the raids on organised sector. This will be followed by alerting and educating un-organised sector. He urged the public to actively participate in banning the use of plastic. The customers too must refuse to use plastic and this will teach a lesson to the sellers”.

“The State Government intends to issue fresh guidelines about the means to curb the use of plastic in the state. Awareness about the ill-effects of plastic will be raised among the public. Plastic ban is the first step towards improving living conditions of environment and community,” Sudhakar added. He also said that more raids will follow in the coming days .

COMMENT NOW