Spit on the road, pay Rs 200 fine

The MCD will deploy 1,000 inspectors to impose stiff on-the-spot penalties on litterbugs who treat the law with disdain, reports Neelam Pandey.

Think twice before smoking, littering or spitting in a public place. An on-the-spot challan of up to Rs 500 awaits those who cannot resist the urge to urinate against a public wall or let their pets loose pestering others.

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The MCD will deploy 1,000 inspectors to impose stiff on-the-spot penalties on litterbugs who treat the law with disdain. “Our objective is to send a strong message across. Though we already had an anti-littering provision under the Delhi Municipal Act (DMC), the implementation process was lengthy. Now the bylaws for the sanitation department have been finalised and the matter will be tabled in the committee meeting soon,” MCD standing committee chairman Vijendra Gupta told Hindustan Times. The law may come into effect by May.

Defecating and bathing in public places would also invite hefty penalties from the Municipal inspectors.

The 1,000 inspectors would be deployed across the city. “The move is in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2006 direction that a strict law be formulated for those who litter,” said an MCD official. Those who let their pets loose will be charged Rs. 500. Also on the anvil: a law to punish hospitals unable to segregate bio-degradable wastes and a stiff Rs 20,000 from those who leave debris on the streets.