Sanitary inspectors to drive anti-spitting campaign in Pune; paan shops under scanner

A civic official said that the solid waste management department collected Rs 57,880 as fines from 15 ward offices and handed over 288 receipts to the offenders

As part of cleanliness and anti-spitting drive, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on April 25 has directed sanitary inspectors to target paan shops in the city. The solid waste management department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is taking efforts to clean out the litter and spit smudges in the city.

As part of cleanliness and anti-spitting drive, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on April 25 has directed sanitary inspectors to target paan shops in the city. (HT FILE)

A civic official said that the solid waste management department collected Rs 57,880 as fines from 15 ward offices and handed over 288 receipts to the offenders. The penalty includes spitting, littering in public areas, as well as non-segregating societies.

“We launched the drive of penalising paan sellers if their surroundings are littered and spit smudges are found. We have done away with the inspection squads and given the rights of penalising to the sanitary inspectors of the 15 ward officers,” said Dynaneshwar Molak, joint commissioner, solid waste management department, PMC.

“We have 126 sanitation inspectors in 15 wards and each has been given a target of conducting or taking 15 actions per day in their respective areas, to make sure that the areas around paan shops are clean. The fine ranges from Rs 150 for spitting on the road, Rs 180 for littering, and Rs 500 for leaving the surroundings with red splotches and waste,” Molak said.

Mukund G Kulkarni, divisional sanitary inspector, said, “We have given sanitary inspectors the right to fine offenders. If they cannot pay or refuse to pay, then we make them clean up the area.”

On October 31, 2018, the Bibvewadi ward office introduced a unique punishment for those who spit in public by charging them a fine of Rs 100 and also were made to clean their spit.

“Following the Government of Maharashtra’s general resolution, which stated that municipal corporations and councils have been asked to impose a fine of Rs 150 on those making the streets dirty, Rs 100 for spitting in public place, Rs 100 for urinating in the open and Rs 500 for defecating in the open, we have begun to penalise people who spit on the road,” said Avinash Spakal, ward officer, Bibvewadi. After the anti-spitting drive, PMC started the anti-litter drive on November 19, 2018, that caught residents off guard.