The district administration here has  embarked on a drive in the Baleswar Municipality area to make the residents as well as shopkeepers aware of the polythene menace and to urge them to stay off from polythene use .

District Collector Ramesh Chandra  Rout said, “ The idea is mooted to implement within a week or so . We are at an initial phase of the process i.e.  information, education and  communication(IEC). We have been appealing both the residents as well as the shopkeepers to refrain from using polythene through public announcement system . While we are urging the shopkeepers not to keep polythene carry bags, on the other hands, we are appealing them not to demand these carry bags. We, although optimistic, yet  don’t know how people would respond to our initiative.”

When asked what alternatives are made available to the small time roadside vendors , Rout said, “We would see what best can be done to mitigate the problem.”

Baleswar has 31 wards under its municipality with population around 1.70 lakh . Following dissolution of municipal council, the entire administrative control is with the  district administration .

The residents while welcomed the move of the district administration, yet they apprehend  it shouldn’t be restricted only to slogans  as the shopkeepers  have hardly any options to deliver goods to the consumers who prefer and are  habituated with going to market to fetch daily needs without their bags.

“In Odisha some of the cities including  Cuttack, Bhubaneswar,Rourkela, Sambalpur, Brahmapur and Puri have implemented polythene ban  but the desired result  is not seen  as expected . Still polythene use is seen . On the other hand  certain metro cities in India have banned polythene. There the shopkeepers  as well as big shopping malls are facilitated with the disposable(bio-degradable)  poly bags  with certain permissible microns. So it is desired that the administration would provide the same facilities to the shopkeepers in order that the ban is implemented successfully,” opined some intellectuals of the town.

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As per officials, a fine of Rs 500 will be imposed on the traders and others using polythene bags, when implemented.