Jamshedpur: The Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) carried out a special enforcement drive against the use of single-use plastic across the city, intensifying its efforts to curb environmental violations.
During inspections, officials found that certain liquor outlets were providing disposable plastic glasses to customers as “freebies” — items that fall under the prohibited category of single-use plastics.
The enforcement team immediately inspected the establishments concerned and seized the banned plastic glasses along with other restricted materials. Taking punitive action against the violators, the authorities penalized the defaulters and collected a total penalty of Rs 10,000.
The civic body reiterated that the manufacture, use, distribution, or promotion of single-use plastic is strictly prohibited. It emphasized that even distributing banned plastic items under the guise of being “free” constitutes a punishable offence.
All liquor vendors and business establishments have been directed to discontinue the use of disposable plastic products with immediate effect and switch to environmentally sustainable alternatives. The committee has warned that such intensive inspections will continue, and stringent action will be taken against any future violations.
I don’t know why, but I always feel that the government and officials have good visions and ideas. However, the implementation — and maybe even the intention — does not always seem right.
If they are really serious about this, they should give proper time to manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers to transition to alternative businesses or materials. No business or job should be suddenly affected. The transition should be smooth, planned, and permanent.
They should first target manufacturers, then wholesalers, then retailers, and finally small vendors who use plastic products.
Meanwhile, they should promote awareness among the public and suggest cost-effective alternatives.
Also, if we are concerned about plastic use, why do we ignore packaged items like chips, biscuits, and many other daily-use products? The government should make it compulsory for all such companies to use eco-friendly alternatives.