Noida approves plan to penalise people for dumping waste at undesignated sites

The Noida authority has approved a plan to act swiftly against those found throwing waste at undesignated sites

The Noida authority has approved a plan to act swiftly against those found throwing waste at undesignated sites. It has decided to install at least 450 CCTV cameras across the city to catch residents who are in the habit of throwing garbage at undesignated sites that leads to sanitation issues.

Noida, India- December 18, 2022: Garbage seen littered over the streets as the Noida Authority has decided to install CCTVs across the city to record those, who are in habit of throwing on roads at Sector 12, in Noida, India, on Sunday, December 18, 2022. (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times) **To go with Vinod’s Story (Hindustan Times)

Authority officials said that anyone caught dumping waste at undesignated sites will be fined anything between ₹5,000 to ₹1 lakh or even higher, depending upon the gravity of the offence. If any person or company is found repeating the offence multiple times, the penalty will be increased, officials added.

The move comes after the authority’s health department approved the plan.

“Identifying offenders often becomes difficult because they throw garbage during the night time. Therefore, the health department has decided to take the help of CCTV cameras to check the menace,” said SP Singh, deputy general manager, Noida authority.

The authority has identified many undesignated sites, which are located across the city in sectors and villages, including Mamura, Harola, sectors 12, 22 and 137, among others.

The authority has set a target to install the CCTV cameras by next month, officials said. It already has an integrated control room in Sector 94, from where it can monitor people who dump garbage at undesignated sites. The authority sends vehicles to collect waste directly from residents and transport them to landfills for treatment.

Noida city was judged the cleanest city in Uttar Pradesh and fifth in the country (among cities with 100,000 to one million population) in the Swachh Survekshan 2022, the results of which were announced in October. Noida produces around 650 metric tonnes of waste on a daily basis.

“If the authority wants Noida to fare even better in the annual cleanliness ranking, it must encourage more public participation. It needs to organise awareness camps so that people cooperate with the health department to make the city more clean,” said Ranjan Tomar, president, Noida villagers’ welfare association.