Beginning on July 1, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will step up its campaign against accumulated construction and demolition (C&D) waste and single-use plastic in public areas.

The action was taken in response to a letter the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) sent to urban local governments requesting that single-use plastic be banned as of July 1. The BMC, however, decided to include the collection of C&D waste in its drive.

BMC officials told the media that its standing committee on waste and sanitation approved the constitution of three more squads for raids and inspection. Currently, enforcement against C&D and plastic trash is handled by a central team.

Suvendu Sahu, the BMC deputy commissioner for sanitation, said that the standing committee has given them permission to create the squads and direct them to police the laws on plastic and C&D trash. While the SPCB has stated that persons who pile C&D rubbish on the side of the road or in other public locations should be penalised, they should also be held accountable for their actions.

The deputy commissioner added that the campaign would be enhanced because each of the three BMC zones would have a team available to carry out enforcement.

Plastic makes up 60% of the approximately 600 million tonnes (mt) of municipal solid garbage produced every day in the capital city.

Sahu said that the campaign against C&D garbage would serve as a message to the public about the consequences of leaving such material lying around. He said they are punishing people for accumulating rubbish now as well.

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