BENGALURU: A sackful of gutkha sachets picked up at the Silk Board Junction in just one hour indicated how widespread chewing and spitting of gutkha (a smokeless tobacco product) in public spaces in Bengaluru is.
A gutkha plog was organised by the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT), Indian Ploggers Army, HSR Citizens Forum, Beautiful Bharath and Stonesoup, along with the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) here on Sunday, where volunteers picked up gutka sachets and masala packets, documented the litter, and urged the government to ban gutka in public places.
In May, the state government amended the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, which made not just smoking, but also chewing and spitting of gutkha in public illegal. The fine was also increased from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000. The volunteers said they stood face-to-face with the unsightly, unhygienic and persistent reality of gutka and tobacco litter. But they confronted the stench and stains for the cause of a cleaner and healthier planet. They will continue to work with authorities and scale up efforts and work towards a gutkha ban collectively, they added.
Shanti Tummala, a citizen activist from HSR Citizens Forum and SWMRT, said, “People are sick looking at the litter and red stains of gutkha. We demand that the government enforce the gutka ban.”
The organisers said they coined the word Mr Guttu, an imaginary character who chews gutka and recklessly spits on roads, walls and public places. Through the gutkha plog, they conveyed the message, “Don’t be a Guttu, keep your neighbourhood clean.”
“A ban without enforcement is a mere ink on paper. We request the enforcement of gutka ban urgently. What is even more disgusting was gutkha spit filled in bottles. Gutkha is not only dangerous to health, but also Mother Earth. Gutkha is still haunting our streets and walls, please enforce the ban,” said Bharathy from the Indian Ploggers Army.