Ludhiana MC fails to curb use of plastic bags
Commenced on August 2, the special drive against plastic was launched on the directions of Ludhiana mayor Balkar Sandhu was conducted for just two days. Now, the MC employees are also showing resistance in continuing the drive suspecting “punishment posting” after MC secretary Jasdev Sekhon was transferred from the city on August 6 allegedly due to political interference.
With assembly elections scheduled next year, a special drive to impose a complete ban on plastic carry bags in the city has turned out to be a complete failure amid “political interference” in the working of the civic body.
Commenced on August 2, the special drive launched on the directions of mayor Balkar Sandhu was conducted for just two days. Now, the MC employees are also showing resistance in continuing the drive suspecting “punishment posting” after MC secretary Jasdev Sekhon was transferred from the city on August 6 allegedly due to political interference.
Sekhon was in charge of the 13-member committee formed for imposing the ban and was reportedly transferred from the city after he locked horns with the close aide of a senior Congress leader, who stopped Sekhon from taking action against shopkeepers in the Jawahar Nagar camp area.
Though Sekhon was posted back in the city on September 10 after the MC employees’ union raised objections over the same, the drive failed to kick off again.
One of the MC officials requesting anonymity said the drive was initiated on August 2 on the directions of the mayor and he assured to defend the employees against the pressure mounted by the plastic industry and politicians. The teams confiscated around 12 quintals of banned bags in two days and issued challans to the tune of ₹2 lakh. However, MC officials are showing resistance to restart the drive suspecting political interference after witnessing what happened with Sekhon. The government also wants to “delay” the action to avoid criticism ahead of the assembly elections. Also, the plastic industry representatives had met the mayor and sought relief during the festive season.
The trade and use of plastic carry bags continue at every nook and corner of the city as the MC has failed to impose a ban on plastic carry bags, said the official while adding that the ban could not be imposed till politicians support the MC. Earlier too, drives were initiated but were put to a halt due to “political and plastic industry pressure”.
Mayor Sandhu said, “There has been a reshuffle and new IAS/PCS officers have joined the Ludhiana MC. We are working to allocate branches to various officials and a special team will again be constituted for imposing a complete ban on plastic carry bags. There is no political pressure and the ban will be imposed at any cost.”