BHUBANESWAR: Drawing flak for its failure to prevent manual scavenging in the state capital, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has warned that engaging untrained or unlicensed sanitation workers will be treated as an offence and attract significant penalty besides legal action.
Launching a public awareness drive in this connection, the civic body has asked citizens to ensure that the sanitation workers are registered with the civic body and possess the Garima identity card.
It also stressed that sanitary workers entering a sewerage line or septic tank without prior permission of sanitation authorities will be considered illegal.
Accordingly, the corporation urged the citizens as well as those seeking cleaning service of their sewerage line and septic tank to dial helpline number 14420 for availing the service.
While details in this regard are being displayed by the corporation on its website with a promotional tagline of ‘Legal Cleaning-Safe Cleaning’, the BMC on Sunday carried out a sensitisation drive in this regard in which the Swachh Sathis reached out to residents, traders and other stakeholders through a door-to-door campaign.
They sensitised them on the importance of ‘safe cleaning’ and the provisions of Garima Scheme, introduced by the state government to ensure protection and welfare of core sanitation workers dealing with faecal matter in toilets, septic tanks, sewer and treatment facilities. The BMC appealed citizens to immediately dial helpline number 14420 if they see a sanitation worker cleaning a sewerage line or septic tank without wearing personal protective gear.
“Residents have been urged to ensure that the cleaning work of sewerage line or septic tank is performed by trained sanitation workers registered with the BMC and they should also possess the Garima identity card,” a BMC official said.
He further informed that the illegal and unsafe engagement of sanitation workers for sewerage and septic tank cleaning will attract fine of up to Rs 2 lakh and imprisonment up to two years or both in the first instance and Rs 5 lakh fine and imprisonment up to five years or both in the subsequent instances.