Bangalore: In
its drive against public nuisance caused by littering, the BBMP has
over a period of two months collected close to Rs 10.4 lakh penalty
under the provisions of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Rules 2012.

BBMP
Joint Commissioner (Health and solid waste management) K. C. Yatish
Kumar said on the spot penalty is being levied and receipts are issued,
on the same lines as traffic violations. As per the new MSW rules, BBMP
engineers are empowered by law to penalise those causing public nuisance
such as spitting, urinating and littering in public.

Yatish Kumar
said as of now bulk generators and garbage contractors are the main
focus. Individual violators will be fine in the days to come. The BBMP
is also empowered to levy penalty against households for failing to
segregate waste, he added.

The Palike needs dedicated environment
engineers and they should be assigned with specific tasks. Each ward
must have assistant engineers and each zone must have executive
engineers, reporting to joint commissioner on the status, he said.

However,
sources said that for a city like Bengaluru, which has nearly one crore
population, the enforcement of MSW rules is poor. They point out that
the total fine collected for littering in last two months compares
poorly with fines collected for traffic violations.

BBMP authorities should be equipped with gadgets such as BlackBerry and cameras to nab and penalise violators with evidence.

Installing
CCTV cameras in commercial areas will help zeroing in on bulk offenders
and thereby prevent indiscriminate dumping of garbage. CCTV cameras
near lakes will also help prevent littering, sources added.