BHUBANESWAR: As part of its efforts to curb plastic menace in the state capital, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has framed a standard operating procedure (SOP) to eliminate the use, sale, storage and distribution of single-use plastic in market areas.

BMC officials said the SOP initially issued for Kochilei Haat, has now been extended to markets in Damana and VSS Nagar and will also be implemented in other parts of the city in phases.

They said the SOP focuses on creating sustained awareness and voluntary behavioural changes among vendors, shopkeepers, consumers and visitors to discourage them from using polythene bags and other single-use plastic in trading and day-to-day use. It also calls for effective enforcement through inspections, penalties and seizure of single-use plastic products as per applicable law.

BMC deputy commissioner for sanitation N Ganesh Babu said the fresh initiative has been launched to establish Kochilei Haat, and VSS Nagar and Damana markets as replicable models for plastic-free markets in the city. The corporation has also decided to conduct periodic monitoring of the plastic-free market drive in the three identified markets at regular intervals with deputy commissioner for education as the nodal officer.

The civic body will hold stakeholders consultation, set timeline for awareness and enforcement, and also take steps for distribution of cloth bags, prioritising small vendors. The SOP also stresses on display of plastic-free market signage in identified marketplaces and involvement of traders and vendors to educate customers on the use of biodegradable bags.

Though there is a ban on manufacture, sale, use and transport of polythene bags and specific single-use plastic items in the city since 2019, the initiative has remained a non-starter owing to lack of adequate enforcement and poor alternatives. Single-use plastic constitutes about 60 to 70 pc of the solid waste generated in the city per day.