The single-use plastic ban initiative, which was implemented by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), has completed 100-days. As a part of this lifestyle-changing initiative to protect the environment, the GVMC has conducted 157 awareness campaigns, 27,000 checks and seized 1,565kg of single-use plastic.
The civic body introduced a plastic ban in the city on 5 June 2022, to commemorate World Environment Day. As a part of this campaign, the GVMC conducted regular checks among vendors, push carts, restaurants and other places in the city. Awareness campaigns were conducted to encourage people to choose environment-friendly alternatives and carry their own cloth bags for shopping. Apart from this, regular beach clean-up programs have been taking place on Sundays, with active participation from the City Mayor, District Collector A Mallikarjuna and GVMC Commissioner G Lakshmisha. Speaking on the occasion, G Lakshmisha said that seven tourist spots in Visakhapatnam have now been made plastic-free zones based on the amount of footfall in the city. He also added that the civic body has collected ₹11.72 lakhs as fines since 5 June during their checks across the city.
The Commissioner said that programs like Sagara Theera Swachhta and Cloth Bag Challenge organised by the GVMC have enhanced the process of the single-use plastic ban in Visakhapatnam. The officials who have extensively used social media platforms to implement this lifestyle change have also collaborated with multiple actors from across the Telugu Film Industry to spread the message.
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