The Hindu              11.12.2013 

Spitting in open: be ready to cough up Rs. 100 on the spot

Armed with amendments to the relevant laws, the Mangalore City Corporation can now impose a fine of Rs. 100 for open defecation, littering, spitting and urinating in public places. The fine doubles if these offences are repeated.

In what could come in handy for the corporation to ensure segregation of waste, it can impose a fine of Rs. 100 if any resident fails to segregate dry waste and wet waste and to hand over the them to the waste collector. The fine goes up to Rs. 500 if the offence is repeated.

For bulk waste generators, the fine starts with Rs. 500 and doubles to Rs. 1,000 for the second and subsequent violations.

The amendments made to the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, have empowered the corporation to impose the fine.

Informing this at a press conference here on Tuesday, corporation Commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde S. said that the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Act, 2013, came into force three months ago (with effect from August 19, 2013). New sections 431-A and 431-B have been added in the Act, empowering the corporation to impose these new fines. He said the corporation had begun imposing the fine.

He said that the civic body recently imposed Rs. 500 fine on bulk generators of waste for mixing hospital waste with general waste.

Though there was a system in place for collecting hospital waste separately to take them to Mulki, the hospital waste was found in the waste transported to Pachchanady.

To a question on when it would begin imposing fine on residents, Mr. Hegde said that the corporation would first enlighten people about the amendments made to the Act through media. Later, it would start imposing fine.