Now, pay up to Rs 5K fine for burning garbage, Rs 500 for littering roads

kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is acting tough against indiscriminate littering and burning of garbage in the city by imposing spot fine or serving penalty notice against the offender. A fine of a maximum of Rs 5000 is being imposed for burning of garbage which plays a significant role in polluting the environment.

"We have channelised patrolling teams which are moving in all the 16 boroughs in the city to keep vigil on illegal throwing of garbage and burning of wastes. We have imposed spot fines of Rs 500 in a number of cases where we have witnessed indiscriminate littering of roads flouting our warning," a senior official of Solid Waste Management department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation said.

There have been instances when an employee of the SWM department has been imposed a fine for burning of wastes.

In case of littering, the KMC is charging spot fines that start from Rs 500 and can go up by Rs 100 in case of similar repeated act.

"As the amount of fine for burning wastes is high that starts for Rs 2500 (less than 100kg) and Rs 5000 (over 100 kg) a penalty notice is being served along with a time frame for payment of fine," the official added.

The drive has started a month back and there has already been more than 10 cases when KMC imposed penalty notice for indiscriminate burning thereby polluting the air.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has installed 12200 bins of 240 litre capacity each for the use of pedestrians and shop owners to avoid littering on streets, footpaths etc.

712 battery operated hydraulic dumper and 45 auto tippers have been engaged for prompt collection of garbage.

Apart from this 20 mechanical sweepers, 20 water sprinklers, and 2 list canons are being used in the main thoroughfares to improve air quality in the city.

"Another 800 battery operated dumpers and 200 auto tippers will be procured shortly for strengthening the garbage disposal system," the official added.

About 126 modern scientific waste compactor station with 238 portable stationary compactors are used for effective storage and transportation of municipal solid waste.