CHENNAI: Fourteen months after the Tamil Nadu government banned single-use plastic, the menace has surfaced again. At grocery shops, fancy stores, push carts and road side stalls, use of plastic carry bags has become usual again.Is slack enforcement by Greater Chennai Corporation a reason?According to official releases of the civic body, only 11,000kg (11 tonnes) plastic was seized in the past five months as against the 3,06,000kg (306 tonnes) confiscated from traders and manufacturers across the city from January to October last year.When asked, a civic body official brushed aside the numbers and said raids have been carried out from time to time even while monsoon preparedness and other civic work were going on during the latter half of 2019.“Since only small-time traders are using plastic bags, the seized quantity seems minimal,” said an official with the corporation’s health department.Though the ban was in effect from January last year, the civic body began penalising establishments from June 2019. Recently, a tea stall on Strahans Road, 3km from the corporation headquarters, was shut down after it was found that the owner was a repeat offender. A footwear showroom on Kundrathur Main Road, Porur, which used banned plastic bags, faced a similar fate two months ago. Despite these, the bags find a way into the market.According to S Rakappan, president of Tamil Nadu Plastic Manufacturers Association, plastic carry bags come from other states. “We cannot deny that it is still available in the market. Some still manufacture it stealthily and sell them at high rates,” Rakappan said.Rakappan said the use of compostable plastic bags as an alternative to plastic bags has led to duplication.“At present, only two companies are allowed to manufacture these biodegradable bags. They cost Rs 450 a kilogram. But, there are products available at Rs 200 a kilogram. This shows that these are fakes,” Rakappan said stressing that the government took a knee jerk reaction without bothering about the industries and about five lakh people who were employed. “Had waste management been effective, there was no need to ban plastic,” Rakappan said.Traders in the city, on the other hand, are irate that civic body officials had been heavy-handed. “Officials barge into shops, sometimes unaware of which items are banned, and behave in an authoritarian manner despite our co-operation,” said A M Vikramaraja, president, Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangam Peramaippu.Vikramaraja said that plastic bags were still used in small shops. “Authorities will be aware from where these are coming. They have to initiate action,” he said.