Enforcing the ban: Minister M. Kandasamy, along with officials, inspecting a unit in Puducherry on Friday. | Photo Credit: S_S_KUMAR more-in The government has started cracking the whip on industries manufacturing plastic bags with a thickness of less than 50 microns. A team led by Minister for Environment M. Kandasamy on Friday after conducting a surprise inspection at Mettupalayam Industrial Estate sealed an industrial unit for various violations and seized plastic bags with a thickness of less than 50 microns from another factory. The pollution control board officials sealed the Standard Polymers after they found a majority of plastic bags produced in the factory were of less than 50 microns thickness. The factory management was immediately asked to stop production and allowed the workers to leave the factory. After the workers left the premises, officials sealed the factory. The team seized plastic products stored in Sapthagiri Packagers, another unit in the Industrial Estate. The seized items were all below 50 microns thickness. Mr. Kandasamy said the government had banned production and sale of plastic bags with less than 50 micron thickness. The sealed factory did not have proper licence and most items produced were less than 50 microns thickness. Some of them even had thickness of only 15 to 20 microns, he said. The government had taken a policy decision to ban plastic carry bags and other products having less than 50 microns thickness taking into account the environmental danger such products could cause. He urged the industrial units to stop production of items with thess than the prescribed thickness. The government would not hesitate to take stern action against those violating the ban. P. Jawahar, Secretary to Government, Local Administration, and P. Parthiban, Secretary to Government, Environment, were part of the team.

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