The newly formed joint action committee against the usage of plastic bags has commenced an awareness drive to alert citizens on the hazards of the bags, ranging from choking of municipal drains to their inherent toxicity. ``We are targeting those areas which have a lot of vegetable and flower markets,'' Dayanand Nene, President of the Mahim Vikas Mandal and convenor of the action committee, told Express Newsline.

The organisations span different areas of Mumbai and comprise the Konkan Vikas Aghadi, Flower Merchants and Wholesale Dealers Association, Prerna Mandal, Sewree, Naigaon Vikas Prathisthan and Gulmohar Residents Society Residents Association at Juhu Vile Parle. General surveys conducted by the Mandal in five dumping areas in the suburbs found that over half of the trash was plastic bags.

The committee is also in the process of drafting a public interest litigation (PIL), to be filed in the Mumbai High Court. Naming the state government, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) as respondents, the PIL will ask for a total ban on plastic carry bags.

The action committee met in Dadar on Tuesday to chalk out their action plan. It has decided to target housing colonies after the findings of its pilot project to discourage shopkeepers on Lady Jamshedji Road. ``Shopkeepers told us that residents insisted on plastic bags, and sometimes even picked up fights when they were not given their purchases in plastic bags,'' Nene said.

Nene said that the committee would even physically prevent shopkeepers who insisted on stocking and distributing plastic bags. Instead, the committee will encourage citizens to use alternatives like cloth bags. The committee has also distributed over a 100 cloth banners bearing this message.

The committee is also in the process of drafting a public interest litigation (PIL) to be filed in the Bombay High Court. Naming the state government, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) as respondents, the PIL will ask for a total ban on plastic carry bags.