Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 07:50 PM IST
BMC’s cleanup marshals collect Rs 4.98 crore fine in six months
The motive behind the cleanliness drive is to not penalise violators but to spread awareness about keeping the city clean.
Mumbai: Barely six months and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s cleanup marshals have managed to collect fine to the tune of Rs 4.98 crore from June 2016 till date from those who defaced the city by littering, spitting, peeing and defecating in the open.
BMC’s chief engineer of solid waste management department Ansari Siraj said that the aim behind the cleanliness drive is to not penalise violators but to spread awareness about keeping the city clean. “The drive to spread awareness among the public about cleanliness and open defecation has had a decent impact in the city,” Mr Siraj said.
He added that the BMC in future plans to press into service a minimum of 20 e-toilets and construct public toilets in the areas where there are no toilets. E-toilets are compact, automated mobile toilets that work when a user inserts one rupee coin. So far there are nine e-toilets in Navi Mumbai. The appointment of clean-up marshals had received mixed responses but in less than six months, signs of improvement are across the city at stations and public spaces.
The BMC’s clean-up marshals are placed at 21 wards across the city. Each ward has approximately 30 clean-up marshals. The marshals work in three shifts of eight hours each. On an average, 22,000 sanitation workers of the solid waste management department are working to make the city clean. The fines range from Rs 200 to Rs 1000.
“People have started taking the clean-up marshals seriously. In fact, people who refuse to pay the fine are made to do social service,” Mr Siraj said.
To bring about awareness of cleanliness and the ill effects of open defecation, the BMC recently roped in Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to be the brand ambassador against open defecation.
Balamwar Vijay, BMC’s deputy municipal commissioner of solid waste management said that in the next few days they would be shooting a short video with the superstar. “It will be aired to educate people about the hazards of open defecation,” he said.
