Team Herald
VASCO: The Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) has failed to abide by its assurance to the residents of Vasco that this year’s Saptah will be plastic-free. One can see a rampant use of plastic bags by the vendors at the Saptah venue, which has more than 700 stalls this year.
The MMC had decided to impose a fine of Rs 500 on anyone who used plastic bags, which constitute 70 percent of the waste collected from the venue everyday. However, the decision was never implemented.
“If MMC did not intend to take its own decision seriously, they should not have talked. One can see banners warning against using plastic bags around the Saptah venue, but it is of no use. The rampant use of plastic bags can be seen all over the venue. The MMC officials are mute spectators,” said Jayant Jadhav, a Vasco local who is running a lottery stall at the venue.
Surprisingly, when the vendors were asked whether they were aware of the MMC’s decision to fine plastic-users, most of them said they had read about it in the newspapers, but nobody from MMC had informed them about the same. A flower vendor stated, “If MMC officials informed us about the plastic ban, we would have avoided using plastic bags.”
When asked why they were not fining people who used plastic bags, an MMC inspector informed that it was due to a staff shortage. He said there were only three inspectors, who were busy checking the licences of the vendors.
Meanwhile, to discourage the use of plastic and to support the MMC’s decision to have a plastic-free Saptah, the Lions Club of Vasco distributed over 1,000 eco-friendly bags to the vendors at the Saptah venue on Saturday. They will do the same on Sunday and Monday to ensure that most of the vendors stop using plastic bags to parcel the items purchased by customers.
MMC Councillor Krishna Salkar, who was present during the distribution ceremony, acknowledged that the MMC had failed to abide by its decision. However, he assured to take up the issue with the chief officer to ensure a plastic-free Saptah from Monday.
