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TG IMPACT
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GSPCB IN RECEIPT
OF PLAINTS TOO
>> Chairman of GSPCB says he is aware of the bags being polypropylene in nature >> He says he has received complaints of such bags being distributed and sold
>> If the bags come to us, we will send these to the lab for verification, he says
>> Once this is done, the report to the government, according to him
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PANAJI: The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) has decided to notify all suppliers of eco-friendly bags meant to replace plastic ones, that they would need to obtain a certificate from the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) before selling them to consumers. CCP Commissioner Ajit Roy told 'The Goan' on Thursday that the commercial sale of these eco-friendly bags will be permitted only after a certificate from the GSPCB is produced.
The move comes a day after 'The Goan' reported that the bags distributed by the CCP to vendors at the Panjim Municipal Market (PMM) as part of its awareness initiative to discourage use of plastic carry-bags were actually of polypropylene, a material banned under 'The Goa Non-Biodegradable Garbage Control Act' of 1996.
The CCP had, on the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi, distributed these polypropylene bags to vendors at the Panjim Market for free, encouraging vendors to use them instead of plastic. However, these bags are as harmful to the environment as plastic. A ban on plastic came into force at the Panjim Market on October 2.
Even though CCP officials claimed that the bags they had distributed were of cotton, and thus eco-friendly, the bags, upon inspection, were found to be polypropylene, which look like cloth bags at first glance.
Meanwhile, Ganesh Shetgaonkar, Chairman of the GSPCB, told 'The Goan' that he is aware that the bags that were polypropylene in nature were being used as substitutes for plastic bags. Further, he has received complaints about such bags being distributed and sold in the guise of cotton bags.
"If the authorities send us the bags that were distributed at the Panjim Market, we will send these to the lab for verification. Once this is done, we will send the report to the government," Shetgaonkar said.The bags in question were distributed as a "token exercise" by the CCP, to educate vendors on alternatives to plastic, and were procured from two companies as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) outreach.
