Palghar : The Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation’s (VVMC) drive to keep the city clean is now a hit worth crores as they have collected revenue of around Rs 1.10 crore in terms of fine imposed on litterbugs for a period ranging December 17, 2014 till last month end.
Even though the fine collected was in crore a lot of people were unhappy as the litter bins were difficult to spot and in some places the litterbins itself were overfilled while a couple of them were damaged. On the other hand a lot of people had also suggested that this drive, which is around 7 months old, should be expanded throughout the VVMC jurisdiction and not limited to station premises. As of now, around 90 marshals clean the station premises of all the four stations; Naigaon, Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar. Currently, the marshals fine Rs 100 for smoking and Rs 200 for littering in public spaces and it was surprising that even after 7 months such offences haven’t stopped and a lot of people are still being fined.
An official from the VVMC said that very soon the number of marshals will be increased and other public places like gardens and religious places would also be covered. Even though the policy was framed for litterbugs, the agency appointed to run this programme was yet to frame a specific policy for street vendors and hawkers who do not comply to any rules and just dump the waste during night.
Vishal Rajemahadik
