West Bengal to levy fine over spitting, defecating, dumping waste: Govt

West Bengal government introduced penalties of ₹100 to ₹200 starting from Tuesday for spitting, defecating, dumping waste and dumping banned plastic carry bags on Kolkata roads and other cities and towns, state urban development minister Agnimitra Paul said.At present penalties will be collected only through online mode. (Representational. Unsplash)“We issued a notice earlier stating that starting from September 1 we would introduce penalties for spitting, defecating, dumping waste, and dumping single-use plastic carry bags below 125 microns,” Paul said.While spitting on the road will attract a penalty of ₹100, urinating and dumping of waste and plastic will carry a fine of ₹200.The minister cited the example of Indore city in Madhya Pradesh, which has bene named as India’s cleanest city for eight consecutive years in the Swachh Survekshan rankings.“The penalty would be nominal ranging from ₹100 to ₹200. Our motive is not to collect revenue but to generate awareness. We want Kolkata and other cities and towns to be clean,” she added.The minister said that the state government was setting up dustbins on the roads, urinals at regular intervals and bag vending machines in markets. There won’t be any dustbins in residential areas.“We will not keep any dustbins in residential areas as people would dump their waste there. Municipal waste collectors will collect the waste from doorsteps in separate bags for dry and wet waste. Dustbins will only be available in markets, bus stands and near railway stations among others,” she said.An app has been developed and installed on the mobile phones of persons authorised by the civic bodies who will collect penalties. The minister said that at least two authorised persons will be designated in every ward.“The authorised person will have to take a picture of the spot where the offence was committed. The name of the offender, his contact number, and the nature of the offence will be uploaded on the app. This will generate a QR code and the offender can pay the penalty digitally by scanning the QR Code. The offender will get a receipt on his mobile phone,” said Naveen Kumar Chandra, director of the State Urban Development Agency (SUDA).At present penalties will be collected only through online mode. Officials said that a SOP was being prepared to collect penalty in the offline mode too.“The penalty will be directly deposited into the civic body’s account. We have held meetings with our cleaning staff who will be authorised to collect the penalties in each ward. We are authorising at least two such workers in each ward. The local police will also cooperate,” Paul said.In the next phase the state government plans to implement a QR-code-based door-to-door waste collection system where-in each house will have a QR code and the waste collector will scan the code after collecting the waste every day. The house owner can lodge a complaint if the waste collector is absent.“Our primary aim is clean the city and the state. We expect to see a visible change in the next one year,” she said.