Sambalpur: Polythene Business will not decrease in the city even after SMC raided for polythene
Sambalpur: Polythene Ban in Sambalpur city. Since last year 2014, there have been strict rules in this regard. The enforcement department of the Metropolitan Corporation is also conducting raids at various times. Fines have also been levied on sellers for polythene. Even in this case, the polythene business in the city will not decrease. SMC raided a polythene warehouse in the Badabazar area yesterday and today and seized polythene worth Rs 2 lakh. This raid lasted for 11 hours. A total of 15 employees participated along with two volunteers. After the raid, the warehouse was sealed. The warehouse owner could not deposit the fine. SMC enforcement officer Shubhankar Mohanty informed that after the warehouse owner appears in SMC, the fine will be charged to the Polythene warehouse owner.
According to the information from a reliable source, yesterday’s raid continued from 4 a.m. to 12 p.m. and today this raid continued for about 3 hours. About 2 lakhs worth of polythene stored in the warehouse has been seized. During the investigation, it was found that the polythene seized imports from Bargarh and Raipur areas warehouses. The confiscated polythenes were packed in 221 carts and brought to the Metropolitan Corporation office by 2 tractors. During this raid, Enforcement Officer Mr. Mohanty along with his colleague Ashok Mishra, Police and Enforcement Squad members participated.
However, since 2014, the use of polythene has been banned in the metropolitan area. Even after this, the sale and use of this polythene continue in different parts of the city. Even after repeated reprimands and fines from the Metropolitan Corporation, such illegal activities cannot be stopped. In the last year 2021-22, the Metropolitan Corporation office raided and seized a large amount of polythene and imposed a fine of about 2.29 lakh. Similarly, in 2022-23, 1.1 lakh 98 thousand fines have been collected, so far this financial year, 1.5 lakh rupees have been collected. Discussions have started in the intelligentsia that there is a secret behind this business not being stopped even after the traders involved in the sale of polythene are repeatedly fined.
There are many commercial establishments in the city that still use polythene today. It has been questioned whether there is really so much profit in the plastic business that the businessmen cannot leave this business even after paying the fine. In the same way, there is no need to show any effort to prevent the trading of polythene on the part of the metropolitan corporation. There is a need for strong action and there is a need for strict action on the import of this polythene from the district and state.
