Municipal corporations of cities are responsible for administrative decisions as well as taking care of civic infrastructure. To accomplish these tasks, they sometimes take the help of residents too. Earlier, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) introduced the #PotholeChallenge2019 that offered Rs. 500 if potholes reported by people were not fixed within 24 hours.
Now, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has announced that shopkeepers who inform them about plastic bag suppliers will be rewarded Rs.2000, reports Zee News.
This initiative is part of Kolkata Mayor and state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim’s no-plastic awareness campaign. The Indian Express reports he and his KMC team headed to Chetla Bazar in South Kolkata for a cleanliness drive. They warned shopkeepers about the hazards of plastic and distributed jute and cloth bags.
He was quoted saying, “We must first stop using plastic bags. We are appealing to the shopkeepers that if someone comes here to supply you plastic bags, you catch them a report them to the authorities.”
Cleanliness can be achieved only when we work towards it together as citizens. Today morning I set out with my KMC team to try and spread the message of avoiding using plastic in my neighborhood pic.twitter.com/GEJDoO16gH
— FIRHAD HAKIM (@FirhadHakim) December 1, 2019
He further added, “Law can only work until a point. Nothing will actually be achieved if the citizens are not made aware regarding the need to keep the environment clean and healthy. We have to teach the people regarding the need to discard plastic usage and our role, as members of the society, in the conservation of the environment.”
Not just Kolkata, the Municipal Corporation of Hisar has tied up with two dhabas to provide people with a free meal in exchange for 20 plastic bottles to curb plastic pollution.