10 residents in Panvel fined for littering
The Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and a Kharghar ward officer fined 10 people collectively of ₹1,800 on Wednesday for throwing garbage in open spaces.
This is the first time residents have been fined in Kharghar.
Ward officer Bhagwan Patil said the action was taken after residents complained about waste being dumped at open spaces at Sectors 10, 13, 30 and 34 in Kharghar.
“We caught the violators and fined them. The fine for littering public spaces in ₹180 per head,” he said.
The accused, according to Patil, are residents of a nearby village.
“This is the first time fines have been imposed in Kharghar and we continue or vigilance against illegal littering here,” said Patil.
Jamir Lengrekar, deputy commissioner of PCMC, said the civic body has started a crackdown against people urinating, spitting and defecating in public.
“People can dial our toll-free number to make sure garbage is picked from the housing societies up rather than littering it,” said Lengrekar.
Residents and activists applauded the civic body for taking quick action against offenders. However, some of them demanded better garbage management in the villages surrounding Kharghar node, where proper arrangements have not been made by the PCMC.
As a result, garbage is often dumped in the open.
“We have seen people dumping garbage everywhere; they bring it on their vehicles, drop it in open spots and leave,” said Ravindran Nair, 38, a Kharghar resident. “We have complained about the issue and are happy that action has been taken. I also feel that PCMC needs to check the garbage disposal system in the villages.”
Health officials from PCMC said they will visit villages in Kharghar and survey garbage management and also check whether dumper trucks are regularly picking up garbage.
One of the areas which witnesses chronic littering is Belpada at Sector 3 of Kharghar. “The garbage truck collects visits only a few areas here and leaves out many places in the interior,” said Sai Nath, 50, a Belpada resident.
PCMC took over garbage collection responsibility from City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) on October 1 last year. The civic body said it has been tracking garbage pickup vans through GPS devices.
Hemant Sharma, a city-based activist, said, “The civic body should make sure this is regularly implemented. At this time, when monsoon is about to recede, diseases spread fast and it is important that cleanliness is maintained.”
Earlier this month, after rainwater entered homes in Panvel following a downpour, PCMC started fumigating many areas to prevent an outbreak of monsoon-related diseases.
On August 9, PCMC also refused to take over nodes in New Panvel that have been facing severe garbage and debris dumping problems, saying Cidco had not fixed basic issues such as relaying roads, repairing sewer lines, footpaths, manholes, drains and other amenities.
Cidco, therefore, proposed a ₹33-crore plan to provide better facilities before handing them over.
tter facilities before handing them over.
