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PET bottles ban shock for Andaman & Nicobar: Manufacturers write to PM
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Saturday, 28 December, 2019, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Kimberley Fernandes, Mumbai
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Manufacturers of packaged drinking water and soft drinks on Andaman and Nicobar Islands are worried over the future course of action as the Pollution Control Board, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has proposed to ban the use of PET bottles below 2 litre volume on the islands. The move is being planned in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address to curb use of single-use plastic in the country.
In this regard, all local manufacturers and traders came together to make several appeals to the local administration but to no avail. Now, Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd (Andaman Bottling Company - Port Blair) has sent a letter to the Prime Minister, for clarity on the matter.
Speaking with FnB News over telephone from the islands, Ashraf Ali, who is operating as franchisee manufacturer at Andaman Bottling Company, for Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd, expressed concern that there was no clarity on the matter.
Ali added that soft drink manufacturers feel that the ban is a gross violation of Article 14 of the Constitution as there has been no mention of a ban on other manufacturers and importers of shampoo, juices, handwash, refined or lubricating oils, cleaning detergents, and the like. This raises a feeling of being targeted and a sense of dual policy of discrimination by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' administration.
Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd in the letter to the PM has pointed out that the local administration has misinterpreted the PM's appeal.
The letter elaborates that manufacturers and importers are dreading the future because they are all neckdeep in debt and bank loans, since the best source of income on the islands is tourism and this ban will hamper tourism, keeping away foreigners especially, as it takes away the ease and comfort of carrying around a bottle of water or beverage.
PET bottles below the capacity of 2 litre, are exactly that which earn businesses, high revenue. The manufacturers are fretting over the ban even more as they too are responsible and want to follow the norms of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by recycling 100% of plastics they manufacture. The sentiments of local manufacturers have been hurt as they are abiding by the norms of 'Make in India Programme,' adds the letter.
The Andaman Chamber of Commerce & Industries, meanwhile, has roped in the UNDP people to present the administration with a long term solution for recycling PET/Plastic.
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