In order to take further and concrete action against the use of banned polythene in the city Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has made a separate wing altogether.

This wing will be headed by deputy municipal commissioner Rohitash Sharma, who has been provided with support staff including members from tax and health departments along with zebra force.

Dehradun municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said, “In a review meeting of the urban development department recently, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressed his concern over the use of polythene in the city.

MCD is also consistently working against the use of polythene, however now we have ordered the formation of a new wing for this particular issue. Recently in the post mortem report of two cows we found 30 to 40 kilogrammes of polythene in their stomach.”

He further said, “This time we will be taking a different approach and focusing on big dealers first. Those wholesalers who are the primary source of polythene in the city will be checked first, after which we will focus on others.”

When asked about the penalty they will be charging as MCD is yet to receive the order copy from Uttarakhand High court, he said, “According to our rules and the orders of the high court heavy penalties will be fixed against the wholesalers of polythene.

 It will also depend on the quantity of polythene we find from a particular source. It will not be a drive or a campaign this time, this wing will be working regularly towards the effective stoppage of polythene use in the city.”

It is pertinent to mention here that in the past MCD has conducted drives against polythene use, but most of the penalties were issued to small vendors. This will be the first time when an active wing will be focusing on enforcement of the polythene ban.