Odisha Chief Secy Orders Strict Enforcement Of Plastic Ban

Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra has ordered strict implementation of the single-use plastic ban across Odisha.

Chairing the state task force committee meeting held in digital mode on Friday, Mahapatra ordered District Collectors, Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) and field officers of the departments concerned to strictly enforce the ban. He also ordered strict legal action against single-use plastic manufacturing units and vendors selling them.

All District Collectors and forest officials were asked to report about the compliance of plastic ban in their respective districts every month after carrying out regular enforcement at public places, especially at tourist spots.

The Chief Secretary also focused on the reuse of plastic waste in road construction.

It was also decided to take up extensive awareness programmes to encourage the public to carry their own bag to markets and include students, media persons, senior citizens, elected people’s representatives, Bar Association members, volunteers and members of social outfits in the campaign against plastic.

The Odisha government banned single-use plastic in all urban areas of the state from October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti) 2019.

On July 1 this year, the state government ordered all producers and wholesalers of single-use plastic to exhaust their stocks.