Acting on the National Green Tribunal (NGT) direction for a complete ban on the use of plastic and polythene bags of any kind from the stretch between Gaumukh and Haridwar along the Ganga, a team of Nagar Nigam with the city magistrate Jaibharat Singh in the lead raided two shops in Bhupatwala area on Tuesday and seized a huge volume of the banned materials. The team also recovered Rs 10,000 from the two shop owners by way of penalty. Notably, as per the rule, hotels, dharamshalas and ashrams, found dumping waste into Ganga, are to be slapped with Rs 5,000 each per day. However, the officials are still mum over whether the containers meant to collect Ganga water, made of the same banned materials, are within the ambit of the ban order or not. Another item has been added though to the list of things to be raided on. It is egg sold on the roadsides in the area around Har Ki Pauri. The vendors selling eggs in the area are now facing the administration’s wrath. On Tuesday, such a vendor was caught selling eggs in the Pantdweep area and was forced to cough up Rs 5,000 by way of fine.
Speaking of the raid, city magistrate Singh said, “Our team conducts raids from time to time in various parts of the city to check whether polythene and plastic are in use or not. Many errant traders have been caught so far on the wrong side of the rule and they have been forced to pay the penalty amounts.”
Meanwhile, the district administration has urged traders, local priests, industrialists and religious bodies to forget their personal and commercial gains and help the administration, civic body, Ganga Pollution Control Board and other nodal agencies execute the NGT order, meant to restore the sanctity of the holy river.
However, things remaining murky over the ban order applying to the plastic-made containers to hold Ganga water, people are sounding a bit confused.
Speaking of the matter, Ganga Sabha president Purushottam Gandhiwadi said that with no alternative left to carry Ganga jal except in such containers, the administration should not act hard on their use.
“The devotees from outside who buy such containers take them to their native places. Hence, there is no chance of Ganga being polluted by their use,” he added.