The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has taken its anti-plastic drive to the next level by taking severe action against 11 offenders who were caught using it or having plastic in their possession. The drive was started following environment minister Aaditya Thackeray’s statement that Maharashtra would be free of single-use plastic from May 1. It was followed for a bit but then, Mumbai’s lethargy and give-a-damn attitude set in and things were back to where they were initially.

Hindustan Times reports that this time around, unorganised establishments and hawkers who are continuing to use single-use plastic bags will be targeted during the drive. “The focus this time will be repeat offenders, unorganised establishments and hawkers. After a huge drive last time, many organised establishments have cut down on using single-use plastic,” a BMC official told HT.

“The drive had lost its place as the administration was posted for election duty in 2019, however, now we have started taking action against offenders,” the BMC official added.

“BMC should penalize people with plastic in public places, but after imposing a nominal penalty. They should act against big institutions by imposing heavy penalties. BMC must also conduct drives at night to act against hawkers using plastic. These are few things that can make the drive successful, instead of making it complicated by exploring multiple options that are not workable,” Environmentalist D Stalin told the Times of India.