Clean-up marshal scheme in limbo, BMC loses `1 lakh a day

After withdrawing the 370-odd clean-up marshals from city roads in January, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now worried about losing revenue of Rs1 lakh per day.

After withdrawing the 370-odd clean-up marshals from city roads in January, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now worried about losing revenue of Rs1 lakh per day.

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The proposal to revive the scheme has been pending with the civic standing committee for the past one month. It has clipped most of the powers given to the marshals.

The scheme was introduced in 2007 and the clean-up marshals were given the authority to fine people for littering and spitting. The civic body had authorised private agencies to provide these marshals because it faced a staff crunch. However, the scheme was discontinued after corporators accused that the marshals of high-handedness and of extorting money from builders and doctors instead of doing their jobs.

According to the data available with the BMC, clean-up marshals, on an average, collected Rs2 lakh per day, of which 50% was given to the BMC and the contractors kept the remaining amount.

“There is a revenue loss, but apart from that, it is important to have a system in place to ensure that the city is clean,” said Mohan Adtani, additional municipal commissioner, adding that the standing committee had raised some important points in the revised proposals, which they were looking into.

According to civic officials, in the past two years, the BMC had earned more than Rs14 crore from the revenue generated by the marshals.

Officials said there was an urgent need for a group of devoted watchdogs that help keep the city clean.

At present, there is only one nuisance detector (ND) for each ward. “There are 77 vacant posts for NDs, but the political will to fill these posts is low,” said a civic official, on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.