BENGALURU: The BBMP’s Solid Waste Management department has penalised 12.96 lakh people since 2019, collecting a whopping Rs 41.70 crore in penalties from them, for violations ranging from usage of banned single-use plastic, spitting, urinating in public places, to open defecation.
According to R Prathiba, Joint Commissioner, Solid Waste Management Department, BBMP, the Palike engaged marshals, health officials and engineers at the ward level and other areas, and conducted special drives to discipline the public and improve the city’s image.
“People need to improve their attitude. There have been instances of people throwing waste packed in plastic bags near the road, while heading to work. People’s cooperation is very important,” Prathiba said.
According to officials, the Palike started imposing a penalty on the public for dumping waste on the road-side, into drains, dumping construction debris, using and throwing banned single-use plastic items, urination in open spaces and open defecation. The BBMP also imposed penalties on peopl for spitting on the road and in public places, for not wearing a face mask, and crowding during the Covid pandemic, when the health department had imposed restrictions and included these practices as part of Covid-appropriate behaviour to be followed.
Among all, the most worrying and shameful incident that the IT capital has witnessed is open defecation. Such incidents hold the mirror to the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department which, on its website, claims that on October 19, 2018, Karnataka was declared ‘Open Defecation Free’.
“Since September 2019, 5,908 cases of open defecation have been recorded and a total penalty of Rs 14.79 lakh imposed. Many realtors in KR Puram, Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli and their surrounding areas do not provide any sanitation and housing to construction workers, forcing them to resort to open defecation on empty sites,” said an official.