Fines for plastic are nothing but PR campaigns initiated by an organisation that has done nothing substantial to tackle pollution
It makes the BMC look as if it cares about the environment, even as the government managing it is in the process of systematically eroding our green cover by handing over parks and protected zones to private builders. Representation pic
If all goes according to the BMC's latest PR-friendly plan, Plastic Patrol Squads will soon sweep through our streets, fining citizens who still have the temerity to carry plastic bags after June 23. It would be amusing if this wasn't a depressing thought, that the BMC can fund squads to examine what we're carrying, but fail to divert its army of personnel towards fixing parts of the city that continue to crumble around us.
No one is supposed to have a problem with this, of course, because being eco-friendly is now fashionable. It makes the BMC look as if it cares about the environment, even as the government managing it is in the process of systematically eroding our green cover by handing over parks and protected zones to private builders. It's good for public relations though, this farcical creation of patrols to police us.
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Let's put aside the very real threat of corruption that looms almost instantly, whenever a patrol of any sort is announced. Remember those infamous clean-up marshals, for instance? What happened to that plan? Where did all the fines collected go? What was the amount raised anyway? Were there any specific parts of our city that actually benefited? When was the last time you saw a part of Mumbai that could refer to itself as clean after the marshals appeared? If that isn't enough to warn you, think about the Pay and Park scheme. It's as if BMC employees wilfully come up with plans that facilitate corruption rather than prevent it.
How exactly will this Plastic Patrol function? Will its members be trained to separate good plastic from bad? The fines reportedly range from R5,000 to R25,000, so will citizens or traders pay by debit or credit card? Will they be issued receipts upon payment? What if these receipts aren't filed? What is to stop a Patrol member from pocketing a fine and not reporting it? These are all valid questions that anyone with half a brain ought to raise. Naturally, they have not been addressed by the BMC, unless the answers exist and are tucked away somewhere on the nightmare that is the official BMC website.
The organisation's idea of reducing chances of corruption is to design a special uniform for the Patrol so citizens can identify them easily. The jokes write themselves. Political parties routinely wake up a week before Environment Day to proclaim their support for the Earth. They do this by putting up thousands of banners and hoardings — made of either plastic or vinyl — to show how much they care. A week ago, a photograph taken at a meeting of ministers discussing the environment went viral because their table was covered with plastic bottles of water. It's this kind of tokenism that reduces everything the BMC and our government does to such a farce. The big polluters are ignored, and it's the small fry that must pay. On the one hand, the green lungs of our city are paved over with impunity and suggestions made by environmentalists are routinely ignored; on the other, inane schemes such as these are floated every six months or so by all kinds of officials looking for a bit of publicity.
If the BMC or the government is serious about tackling pollution, there are a few things it can do almost instantly, such as enforcing the law when it comes to wilful industrial pollutants, insisting that noise pollution rules are followed, or cleaning the Mithi River for a start. It can even tackle the problem of plastic at the source if it wants to, making it mandatory for manufacturers to stop flooding the market with cheap products that cause ecological damage. Instead of taking serious steps towards addressing any of these obvious problems, it has come up with the idea of checking bags by hand instead.
Consider this rather simple exercise: Ask a child in your family about the environment today. Ask about obvious problems and what he or she thinks can be done to make our air, water and land a lot cleaner. Note down the responses and post them to your local BMC ward. They won't get read, obviously, because few people at the BMC take the time to read suggestions, but it may compel someone there to do more than just lip service.
When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
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