Uzhavar sandhai vendors say a firm 'no' to plastics

Madurai: One of the first initiatives of the collector to ban the use of plastics in the uzhavar sandhais has started yielding results, with the vendors strictly saying "no" when asked for a bag by the customer.
When collector K Veera Raghava Rao assumed charge in January this year, his first message was to avoid plastics. As a first step, it was decided to eliminate the use of plastic bags in the uzhavar sandhais, where the vendors used to hand over vegetables in plastic carry bags to customers.These vendors were urged to give up the use of plastic bags and were given cloth bags, which the customer could purchase for 5 each. A cloth bag can hold 4-5 kg vegetables.
Almost five months hence, the use of plastic bags has come down drastically. "It is a good thing the vendors do not keep plastic bags. I did not think they would follow this rule so seriously," said K Ganeshan of Chokkikulam, who has now started bringing his own bag to the market for the past three months.
Saying 'no' to plastic or polythene bags has always been more a slogan than the norm in the city. The civic body occasionally conducts raids and makes seizures, but the uzhavar sandhais have been able to implement the ban on plastics without much supervision. "The supervisor will come and take action against us, so we do not keep polythene bags any longer,'' said Rani, a vendor at the Anna Nagar uzhavar sandhai. Though no fine is specified, these vendors are threatened with cancellation of their shops' membership if they use the bags.
Founder of the Centre for Environmental Services SV Pathy says this is one initiative that has yielded result. Vendors in the markets purchase plastic bags of less than 3 micron for as much as about 20 for 100 bags. Tomato vendors are frequent users of these bags, but now they too have stopped using them. He said these markets used not less than 1,000 of these bags on a daily basis. These may be less in weight, but could cause a lot of environmental damage.
The uzhavar sandhais have set a good example, as segregating plastic bags from vegetables waste in the market used to be a big problem. "It will be better if the same rule is implemented in the central market, where the use of plastic bags is much more. Also, the collector can ensure that the use of the black polythene bags in meat shops is banned," he said
The collector said the response from the public and vendors in farmers' markets was encouraging and the district administration was now exploring ways to implement the plastic ban in other places in the district also.