Lathakumari (name changed), a vegetable vendor in Bommanahalli continues to use single-use plastic (SUP) covers to pack vegetables for her customers, like many years before, despite a nationwide ban on the same since July 1. Most of her customers are not aware of the ban and not ready to spend on alternatives like cloth or paper bags.
Lathakumari says that she hides the SUP covers whenever BBMP marshals come on rounds to check the use of SUP. She only gives the plastic cover for the customers who don't bring their own carry bags. “We don't want our customers to be unhappy when we say bring your own bag, hence we still give the SUP since the other alternatives like cloth bags or paper bags are costly, we cannot afford that, neither our customers,” she said. So far ever since the ban of SUP, the BBMP has imposed a fine of ₹59,600 and seized 93.5 kg of plastic in eight zones of the city.
The ban was somewhat effective at larger commercial establishments in the city where the owners decided to switch to paper bags, but at the ground level, from neighbourhood vegetable vendors to grocery shops, nobody could cut down on the use of cheap and easily available plastic bags in the city.
