Seal shops selling banned plastics in Nilgiris dt: HC

The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Nilgiris district Collector to seal all the shops that are selling banned plastic items in the district, saying mere imposing of fines would not serve the purpose.

A division bench of Justices V Bharathidasan and N Satish Kumar gave the direction when the batch of public interest writ petitions from social activists came up for further hearing, today.

The petitions prayed for strict implementation on the ban plastic items, which had been introduced from January, 2019.

When the matter came up today, the Collector, appearing through video conferencing, informed the judges that over Rs 1.25 lakh had been collected towards fines from the traders, who violated the directive.

Mere imposition of fine and penalties would not serve the purpose, the bench retorted. Unless action like sealing the shops are undertaken, the plastic menace could not be eradicated, it added.

The judges stated that they are planning to visit the Nilgiris to study the steps to be taken to remove the exotic species. They are also proposing to visit the train route between Palakkad and Coimbatore to ascertain the steps taken to prevent elephant deaths due to train hits, they added.

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