The Pioneer               27.07.2013

Demolition at Bairagarh Old Sabji Mandi begins, vegetable sellers shifted

With the shifting of the 60 vendors the Old Sabzi Mandi has been evacuated completely and the process of the shifting has been completed on Friday. The process of demolishing the shops at the old sabzi mandi has been started by the BMC squad.

New sabzi mandi near Sehore toll plaza was developed to provide relief to the traders and locals from the congested and cluttered old sabzi mandi. In the new sabzi mandi, platforms are covered with shed and other facilities are also provided to the vendors.

The remaining shops and sheds would be removed tomorrow.  The road side stalls and hand carts selling goods at the Bairagarh BRTS main road were also shirted to the newly developed hawkers’ corner.

Meanwhile, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation has issued notices to the owners of the dilapidated houses and demolished six houses that were in poor condition and the BMC had identified them as danger.

With the aim to secure the people from any untoward incidents from the dilapidated houses the BMC has drive to demolish the buildings in frail and feeble condition.

The anti encroachment squad and technical department during the operation demolished houses and part which were in a dilapidated condition at Jehangirabad, Unani Hospital building, a single storey building near Badwali Masjid and at Chiklod road.

The BMC has issued notices to the building owners which are in dilapidated condition and the action was taken after the owners heeded to the orders.

Deccan Herald           27.07.2013

'Segregate garbage or pay fine'

The Assembly on Friday passed an amendment Bill which seeks to impose a penalty ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 5,000 for not segregating garbage and urinating and littering in public places in all city corporations, including the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill 2013, piloted by Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, was approved in a voice vote.  However, members cutting across party affiliations advised the government not to rush through its implementation without making proper preparations. 

The Bill is yet to come up for consideration in the legislative council.  The government move to impose fines is based on the Karnataka High Court direction of 2012. The proposed Bill is aimed at ensuring scientific disposal of solid waste and maintaining cleanliness in public places. 

As per the Bill, any officer authorised by the corporation commissioner not below the rank of a group-B officer can impose the fine. Hefty fine has been proposed for violations by bulk garbage generators, dumping of building waste irregularly and failure to segregate and hand over garden waste, inert waste, sanitary, non-biodegradable and biomedical waste to the local body.

Implementation delayed

Defending the Bill, Sorake said the government would not implement it as certain preparations have to be made. 

Enough publicity would be given about the Bill and people would be educated on all the provisions. Steps would also be taken to construct adequate number of toilets and urinals in public places, he added.

The government is only following the directions of the high court. The previous BJP government had approved the Bill and introduced it in the Assembly, but it could not be passed. 

The same Bill was placed before the Assembly now. The provision for imprisonment for repeated offences was present in the original Bill. 

The image of Bangalore has taken a beating due to its garbage disposal problem. The bill aims to streamline the system, he added.

He also said that the government is planning to include all urban local bodies, including CMC, TMCs and TPs, under the provision in a phased manner.