Guntur intensifies crackdown on banned single-use plastics

The Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) has stepped up enforcement of the nationwide ban on single-use plastic items, deploying public health officials and sanitary inspectors for field-level monitoring across the city.

These teams are now empowered to impose fines on the spot for violations, with all penalties being processed through the ‘Swachh App’ — a digital platform designed to streamline compliance tracking and penalty collection.

The move comes amid growing concern over the visible accumulation of discarded plastic water bottles in city drains, a problem that persists despite the existing prohibition on several single-use plastic products.

While the ban covers a range of items, the continued presence of used water bottles in stormwater drains highlights the gap between regulation and ground-level waste management. The GMC’s latest initiative aims to close this gap by making enforcement more visible and accountable through technology-assisted inspections.

Officials are expected to focus on commercial establishments, public spaces, and waste-generating points where banned plastics are most likely to be found. The use of the Swachh App is intended to bring transparency to the penalty process and build a data trail that can guide future waste-management decisions.