ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has Imposed Rs 210, 000 fines on shopkeepers and confiscated up to 200 kg of plastic bags during the ongoing year.
The EPA was determined to make the federal capital a plastic-bag-free city as the regulator authority issued Rs 70,000 fine during the month of March, said EPA Deputy Director Sadia Munawar.
Talking to APP on Thursday, she said there were four teams in the field to pay a surprise visit to various markets in the capital city and issue penalties to violators.
“The EPA strives every nerve to make Islamabad a plastic bags-free city as we seized thousands of plastic bags and imposed fines of Rs 560, 000 to the violators in 2021,” she noted.
No mercy would be shown for culprits who sell or used plastic bags including citizens she told while divulging details of the campaign and added that a ticket of Rs 10,000 would be charged to a shopkeeper who sells goods in plastic bags and 100, 000 would be fined to plastic bags manufacture and this amount would be doubled if the same shopkeeper and manufacturer caught the second time.
“Campaign of plastic bags free city is not limited to shopkeepers and manufacturers only as EPA has decided to impose fines on citizens. Rs 5000 would be charged to a person if the authority finds him with a plastic bag” she warned the dwellers of Islamabad.
Highlighting the drastic ramifications of plastic bags, she said that polythene and plastic bags really hazardous to the ecosystem as it took thousands of years to degrade in soil which was dangerous to human and animals and also caused choked drains that prompted urban flooding.
Talking about the future goals she said that with the collaboration of Ministry and city administration, EPA was trying to launch a joint venture to convert confiscated polythene and plastic bags into desks and benches for the students of Islamabad’s schools.