AHMEDABAD: On World Environment Day , Ahmedabad city will wage battle against water pouches, plastic tea cups, betelnut-tobacco or masala-mawa wrappers and single-use plastic carrybags.The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has already issued instructions to all zonal offices, to seize banned plastic items and destroy them. Raids are expected at tea stalls, chemist shops and neighbourhood and fruit and vegetable vending clusters.AMC has already seized 3,295kg of banned plastic products, collected Rs 42.82 lakh in fines and issued 13,493 notices to people selling or dealing in banned single-use plastics thinner than 40 microns.Malls and neighbourhood supermarkets have also been instructed to discourage plastic use. “From Tuesday onwards, we will practically be banning all single-use plastics, that have been menacing our civic infrastructure and environment,” said municipal commissioner Mukesh Kumar. He later added that special plastic recycling ‘ATMs’ will be set up at 12 locations in the city, four in the first phase, which will pay individuals depositing plastic bottles with the AMC.Special blue vehicles are being launched that will only collect plastic waste. “During our annual maintenance of underground civic infrastructure drives, our teams pull out tonnes of plastic masala-tobacco wrappers, tea cups and single-use plastic bags. They clog our stormwater drains and sewerage systems and are a menace,” says Kumar.Phani Trivedi, a waste management expert, points out, “Waste segregation at source is the key to the war on plastics. Firstly, instead of propagating the idea of wet or dry waste, which is confusing, AMC should propogate the idea of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. The reason is that many recyclers are finding mud, hair, stones and even dry leaves with non-biodegradable waste,” says Trivedi. She adds that that the twin bins –blue and green—provided by AMC should be attached with a single lid, so the family decides at the right moment which division to dump the waste in.”While the Ahmedabad mayor, Gautam Shah, flagged off the ‘Beat Plastic Pollution” mini marathon recently, several NGOs organised plastic clearance drives in areas like Chandkheda, CG Road and several other areas of the city.