Civic body in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar to impose fine on defecating, urinating in open

While Sambalpur civic body had announced a hefty fine of ₹500 last year, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation this year had set ₹10 fine for open urination and ₹50 penalty for open defecation.

Anyone defecating and urinating in the open in the city limits of Odisha’s capital of Bhubaneswar would be penalised ₹200 and ₹150 respectively from Sunday.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said in a notification that the penalty would be imposed under Solid Waste Management Bye-Laws, 2018. (File Photo)

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said in a notification the penalty would be imposed under Solid Waste Management Bye-Laws, 2018. Nearly a million people live in Odisha’s capital city in an area of 135 square kilometres.

BMC became the third municipal body in the state to impose such penalty for open defecation and urination.

Earlier, the Sambalpur and Berhampur Municipal Corporations had announced penalty for such acts.

While Sambalpur civic body had announced a hefty fine of ₹500 last year, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation this year had set ₹10 fine for open urination and ₹50 penalty for open defecation.

Additionally, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation had set a fine of ₹1000 for organisations, which failed to keep public toilets clean.

Last month, 24 families in the coastal Ganjam district had been debarred from the public distribution system (PDS) after a gram panchayat decided to stop the benefits from reaching people who were found defecating in open.

The Odisha government had declared itself to be open defecation free in September this year. It was one of the worst-performing states in the construction of individual household latrines under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat Mission.