MAPUSA: The Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) has decided to provide cloth bags to all the households in the town to make it plastic-bags-free, with effect from October 2. The decision was taken at a special council meeting on Friday.
Earlier this year, after conducting several awareness programmes against the use of plastic, the municipality had banned plastic bags of over 40 micron thickness from April this year.
Though the municipality had planned to ban plastic bags from January 26, it had postponed the plan since the municipality did not have adequate number of inspectors for smooth implementation of the ban.
At the Friday meeting, the council also took a decision of to fine the Municipal market vendors Rs 5,000, if found selling plastic bags.
At the meeting, Chairperson Ryan Braganza informed the councillors that the civic body intends to implement the plastic free Mapusa campaign by introducing cloth bags through a Corporate Social Responsibility programme. “The cloth bags are percent cotton; they will reduce the risk of pollution. 24 nationalized banks from Mapusa have been approached by the MMC for contribution, but only SBI bank has shown interest. We have prepared an estimate of around Rs 11-12 lakh and are intending to provide two bags for every household. The two bags given to each household would amount to around Rs 60,” Braganza said.
Councillor Tushar Tople suggested that notices could be put up at the vegetable and fish markets informing the people to use cotton bags.
Councillor Martin Carrasco sought to know from the chairperson why the municipality did not keep the drive of using cloth bags in force when it was earlier introduced.
The chairperson replied stating that implementation was a problem not only in Goa but across the county.
Councillor Madhumita Narvekar said that there was a need to take the traders and vendors into confidence before going ahead with the decision of implementing the plastic free campaign.
On the issue of levying of house tax on unauthorised structures on private and comunidade lands, the councillors said that they were not in favour of regularizing the structures on comunidade lands.
