Greater Chennai Corporation launched a drive to prevent plastic pollution on Monday

The Greater Chennai Corporation started a plastic pollution prevention campaign on Monday, seizing massive amounts of plastic from commercial businesses and collecting penalties from violators. Meanwhile, civic authorities addressed a hearing of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee in Delhi on Monday in response to the audit report Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in 2022 highlighting pollution caused by plastics in Chennai. The CAG noted in the report that the National Green Tribunal, by decision dated June 16, 2021, established a Joint Committee to investigate the presence of microplastics in wells near dumpsites in Chennai. Several research investigations in Chennai revealed the presence of microplastics in groundwater.

Corporation Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan has instructed that commercial enterprises be inspected and banned plastics be seized. The local authority intends to take many initiatives to avoid plastic pollution around the city. On Monday, a team of authorities from the Ambattur zone confiscated three tonnes of plastics from a godown on Kamaraj Nagar Third Street in Padi.

Officials discovered that 448 dealers had utilised prohibited polymers. On Monday, 1,260 commercial companies were raided. As many as 125 of the 299 street vendors were found to be in violation of the guidelines. They were fined $19,000 for their actions. On Monday, 62 of the 162 flower dealers, 54 of the 122 fruit sellers, 13 of the 56 seafood vendors, and 142 of the 525 stores were found to be in violation of the plastics prohibition. Officials went to houses of worship and found infractions in 52 of the 96 shops on the property.

Over the previous four years, the Corporation has confiscated 461 tonnes of plastic and collected a fine of Rs.6.17 crore from violators of the prohibition. According to Chief Engineer N. Mahesan, programmes such as biomining will lessen the environmental effect of plastics. Mr. Mahesan stated that over 1.45 lakh tonnes of refuse-derived fuel had been transported from biomining facilities in Perungudi to cement companies.