Mumbai: Littering? Watch Out For UPI-Equipped Clean-Up Marshals Deployed By BMC

Mumbai: The BMC, on Tuesday, deployed its new teams of clean-up marshals to penalise citizens for littering, garbage burning and illegal dumping of waste. These teams have been appointed on a pilot basis in A-ward (Colaba, Churchgate area) and C ward (Kalbadevi, Marine Lines). For transparency, penalties will be collected online.

The scheme to have marshals in every civic ward was introduced in 2007. However, it was discontinued several times amidst extortion allegations.

The last contract ended in 2022, but marshals are needed to discipline the city and to prevent garbage being dumped in public places, officials said. So, the BMC came up with the idea of introducing a digital mode of payment and police verification of marshals. The online penalty platform was developed by the BMC’s IT department.

They are equipped with a small printer connected to their mobile through bluetooth. They can print the receipt of the penalty and the amount will be deposited in their agency.

The marshals have the authority to impose fines ranging from Rs100 to Rs1,000 for littering. They are authorised to penalise individuals for illegal garbage and debris dumping, burning waste, spitting, littering, and not picking up pet waste.