No cash to pay, drop in Mumbai civic body’s cleanliness drive collection

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) clean-up marshals collect a fine from citizens for spitting, littering, urinating or open defecation in public premises. In some cases, the marshals, appointed by various security agencies, let off the offenders without charging a penalty. The fine for the programme, which was initiated in July, is usually in the range of Rs200-Rs1,000

The cash crunch has hit the cleanliness drive of the civic body.

Of the Rs54 lakh, the highest (Rs4.7 lakh) was collected from R/C ward (Gorai, parts of Borivli), followed by Rs3.5 lakh from the G/S ward (Prabhadevi) in November. (HT File Photo)

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) clean-up marshals collect a fine from citizens for spitting, littering, urinating or open defecation in public premises. In some cases, the marshals, appointed by various security agencies, let off the offenders without charging a penalty. The fine for the programme, which was initiated in July, is usually in the range of Rs200-Rs1,000.

According to data accessed by HT, the clean-up marshals registered a total of 25, 681 offences in November, as opposed to 39,872 offences in October. They collected Rs54.75 lakh until November 27, compared to Rs1.10 crore in August. The marshals or litter cops collected Rs92.44 lakh in September and Rs91.30 lakh in October.

Of the Rs54 lakh, the highest (Rs4.7 lakh) was collected from R/C ward (Gorai, parts of Borivli), followed by Rs3.5 lakh from the G/S ward (Prabhadevi) in November.

A senior civic official from the solid waste management (SWM) department of BMC said, “It is true that we could not collect fine in most cases because the offenders had no cash to pay. Instead of that, we made people do social service by cleaning up areas in their vicinity.”

There are a minimum of 30 marshals in each of the 24 wards, officials said. Some wards have more clean-up marshals depending on the number of crowded areas in the vicinity. The total amount collected by marshals in a day is deposited in the citizen facilitation centres (CFC) in each of the respective wards.

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