Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Jabalpur administration has warned that National Security Act (NSA) will be invoked against people using single used plastic or polythene carry bags.
Jabalpur collector Ilaiyaraja T told Free Press, "FIR will be registered against any shopkeeper found using polythene. He will be sent to jail under the NSA. We will first warn. On second error will lodge FIR. If shopkeepers still refuse to comply, then action will be taken under NSA." The collector said that the time of awareness campaign and appeal was over. Three months have passed since the ban came into force, now strict action would be taken.
The collector said that shopkeepers were being regularly advised against use of single-use plastic. Now action would be strict. FIR would be filed against those found selling and using banned polythene. Even after this, if you indulge in similar act, then action would be taken against those involved in this illegal business under the National Security Act (NSA).
The administration said that campaigns launched against single-plastic had failed to make any difference. In the last one month, 90 quintals of polythene was seized, collector added. Manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single-use plastic items have already been banned across the country from July 1, 2022.
The Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules also prohibit manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of plastic carry bags having thickness less than seventy five microns with effect from September 30, 2021, and having thickness less than one hundred and twenty microns with effect from the December 31, 2022.
