Litterbugs to pay Rs 10K fine

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 13

Next time you are caught littering in public places, be ready to shell out Rs 10,000 as the MC has proposed a fine in the draft Chandigarh Municipal Solid Waste Bylaws issued on Thursday.

At present, the MC is charging Rs 5,000 in residential areas and Rs 10,000 in commercial establishments for the offence, but in the bylaws, a uniform fine of Rs 10,000 has been proposed for littering. The MC has sought objections from the public within 30 days on the draft bylaws before issuing a notification.

The MC has also proposed a fine for various other violations of solid waste rules, besides fixing the fee for door-to-door garbage collection. The fee for garbage collection has been fixed as per the size of the houses. The fee will be increased 5 per cent every year.

In case of non-payment of charges, these will be added to the water bill of the defaulter.

Officers said the heavy penalty had been proposed to make it a deterrent for habitual offenders. Repair of vehicles,  washing  utensils  in unauthorised  places and throwing   garbage  from vehicles  will invite  a fine. According to the  bylaws,  no person, whether a driver or passenger, in a vehicle shall litter any street, road, sidewalk, playground, garden or any other public place.

It shall be the responsibility of the owner of any pet animal such as dog and cat to promptly scoop/clean up any litter created by such pet on the street or any public place and take adequate steps for the proper disposal of such waste.

Failure to collect segregated waste by waste collectors will attract a penalty of Rs 2,000   in residential areas and Rs 10,000  in non-residential areas.  

Resident welfare associations   will be  charged Rs 10,000   and market associations Rs   20,000 for violations  of rules.