Tikapur Municipality Inspects 193 Businesses, Seizes 65kg Plastic Bags

Kailali. Tikapur Municipality has inspected 193 farms and businesses in one week. During the market inspection conducted for market management and consumer welfare, 65 kilograms of plastic bags that were against the standards were seized. The municipality has banned the use of plastic bags in Tikapur since last year's July. The municipal office stated that the seizure was made by monitoring and stopping the use of plastic bags against the standards being used secretly. During the inspection, expired daily consumption goods worth Rs 18,939 were seized.

During the inspection, 117 grocery and other businesses, 52 plastic traders, and 24 medical stores and pharmacies were inspected, said Ranjhu Acharya, member secretary of the inspection team and head of the economic development branch. Chief Administrative Officer of Tikapur Municipality, Suman Dhital, said that after inspecting, some businesses were instructed to meet the standards, and some businesses were given a final warning. "We have given time to those whose businesses are not registered to renew, and those who have not renewed have been immediately brought into the process," he said. "Plastic bags worth lakhs of rupees were found. The plastic bags in the warehouses of wholesale sellers have been sealed and instructed not to be sold anymore."

Dhital said that the municipality is continuously conducting consumer awareness programs, and if every consumer only checks the expiry date, consumer rights will be protected. Ekindra Timilsina, chairman of the Consumer Welfare Protection Forum Tikapur, requested to fix the auto-rickshaw fare in Tikapur, manage the noise pollution caused by loud DJ and loud speakers in the market, coordinate traffic awareness as urban roads are difficult to use, and regularly monitor to stop the use of plastic. Janak Shah, pharmacy in-charge of Tikapur Hospital, requested the medical businesses or pharmacy operators to coordinate with the waste management center in the hospital for waste management problems and facilitate it.

Balkumari Rawal, head of the Tikapur Municipality Health Branch, said that after the inspection, the operators of medicine stores have started coming to register their shops, 22 medical stores have been given time for registration, and after being informed about the Infant Milk Substitute Act, they have become organized. "We have prioritized breastfeeding and instructed not to sell items like milk bottles, powdered milk, etc. that substitute mother's milk indiscriminately after regularizing their sale," he said. "Now the traders have become aware. They have started selling only with a doctor's prescription."

Mohan Bik, ward chairman of Ward No. 1, said that out of about three thousand businesses registered in the ward, the number of daily business registrations has increased by up to five after the inspection. "We have trained the ward development organizations in the plastic-free campaign," he said. "The speed of cargo trucks in the market has increased, and this needs to be reduced. Cargo vehicles should be stopped during the time children go to school and return home. This has caused accidents."