A group of 50 workers toiled 24x7 for almost a week for putting up plastic flex banners for a public meeting addressed by a noted politician in Chimakurthy of Prakasam district recently.
More than ₹5 lakh was spent on the flex banners with larger-than-life image of the VIPs for the big event and 50% of the amount was spent on workers’ payment, according to a flex banner maker G. Raja.
Now, around 10 lakh flex banner makers in the State are staring at an uncertain future as the government has announced a ban on plastic flex banners with immediate effect, lament a group of banner makers here.
The ban announcement by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has come as a shock to the people who have been eking out their living by making polyvinyl chloride (PVC) banner that are used extensively during political meetings, election campaigns and private functions such as marriages, birthday parties, religious festivals and etc. Business establishments also use the plastic flex banners for advertisements.
The ban decision has come as a ‘bolt from the blue’, say the banner makers, adding that a reasonable time has not been given to switch over to cloth banner printing as suggested.
‘Few takers for cloth banners’
“Cloth banners do not have much takers in view of the high cost and poor quality of the images on the banners,” says Andhra Pradesh Flex Printers’ Association functionary G. Kesava.
Vinyl flex banners can be recycled and used for different applications such as making footwear, geotextiles, canal linings, adds another functionary K. Vamsi.
It needs an investment of more than ₹25 lakh to start a small flex banner unit and now with the ban order, the banner makers have not left with other option than selling away the machinery at a throw-away price.
The banner makers say even before the ban order, they were subjected to harassment by the local authorities. A plastic flexi banner will cost about ₹10 per square foot, the one made of cloth is priced at more than ₹30 per square foot. There are no takers for the latter ones, they explain.
‘Bold decision’
However, the environmental activists have welcomed the decision of the government. “It is a bold decision with a foresight. The reason for the ban is that the flex banner material is not bio-degradable. When burnt, they emit toxic fumes that can cause cancer. There is no alternative to the ban in view of market flooding with PVC material,” says Volunteer Environment Organisation president G. Veerabhadrachari.
Plastic-free Ongole
Meanwhile, the Ongole Municipal Corporation is leaving no stone unturned to achieve ‘plastic-free’ tag well ahead of the 2027 deadline.
More than 28 tonnes of waste is generated in the limits of the civic body daily. The garbage collected door-to-door through a network of trucks is being segregated and processed at Guthikondavaripalem on the outskirts of Ongole.
“About half of the waste generated happens to be non-bio-degradable ones. The civic body is conducting extensive raids across the city to stop supply of plastic at the level of distributors. Fine in the range between ₹100 to ₹10,000 is being impose on the on retail shop owners for the violation in rules,” says Municipal Commissioner S. Venkateswara Rao.
Highlighting the woes of the people pertaining to choking of drains with plastic, Poura Samajam Prakasam district president G. Narasimha Rao feels a permanent solution to the problem can be found only when the ban is enforced at the manufacturers’ level. “A ban at the grassroots level will only put small-time vendors into troubles,” he says.
