Rajkot: The standing committee of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) on Friday approved a proposal of collecting higher penalty, up to Rs 2lakh , from those using prohibited plastic in the city in violation of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. Currently the maximum penalty for such offenders is Rs 2 ,000.The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, aims to increase minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 to 50 microns, expand the jurisdiction of applicability from municipal area to rural areas, bring in the responsibilities of producers and generators, both in plastic waste management system, and to introduce recycling plastic by producers/brand owners.The civic body in its proposal has specified the amount of fine for manufactures of plastic bags, wholesalers, retailers and vendors. The proposal makes it registration mandatory for traders dealing in any category of plastic.Standing committee chairman Uday Kangad told TOI, “This proposal had been floated under the Swacch Bharat Mission. We won’t be lenient on users of banned plastic. It has been observed that manufacturers and traders are blatantly violating the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. We have seen steady increase in cases of violation of the rules. But now all violators will be dealt with strictly.”The proposal will now go to the RMC general board and after it approves it, the rules will come into force.At present, a manufacturer pays maximum penalty of Rs 2,000 for selling prohibited plastic in the market. RMC’s environment engineer Nilesh Parmar said, “We have fixed everybody’s responsibility, from the manufacture to the vendor.”

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