Determined to make the cities of the State cleaner in line with the Swachchh Bharat Mission, the State Government has decided to slap a penalty ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 on those to be found spitting or urinating on roads within the municipal boundaries of the cities from September 1.
Besides, the municipal corporations of Dehradun, Haridwar and Haldwani-Kathgodam have been given target of Rs 5 lakh each to be collected through the enforcement of the act while the target is fixed at Rs 3 lakh each for three other municipal corporations based in Rudrapur, Kashipur and Roorkee. To make urban areas free from open defection, the Minister has appointed the District Magistrates as nodal officers. He further said that he would review things every week. This was disclosed during a meeting State Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik had with Secretary Radhika Jha, city Commissioners, executive officers and sanitary inspectors in the Secretariat on Tuesday.
The meeting was called to review the performance of the Government officers for the Swachchh Survey-2018.
The Minister stressed that all possible steps should be taken to help the cleanliness status of the cities of the State find a better place during the upcoming survey-2018. He affirmed that the State Government is determined to make the cities get into the top 50 of the list. The Government announced that the cities which would figure high in the Swachchh Survey-2018 list would be awarded with cash prizes. The three cities which would come first, second and third would get Rs 75 lakh, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh respectively.
The Minister further said that the officers must consider the performance of the field employees in Swachchh Bharat Mission while preparing their annual confidential report (ACR). As per the anti-littering and anti-spitting act to be enforced from September 1, anyone found throwing garbage and spitting in public space would be made to cough up Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 or to undergo six months' imprisonment or may face both.
To ensure that the garbage is collected from door to door and the roads are swept clean daily, the city Commissioners have been instructed to provide spacious containers at the main points of the cities. They have also been asked to give wide publicity to the act to make the people aware of the punishment lying in it for the offenders.
Notably, the municipal corporation of Dehradun has started the cleaning work of the city roads during the night hours. The city Commissioner and the executive officers have been instructed to make sure that the city roads are swept clean between 6 and 7 am daily through physical inspection.
The Minister asked the officers concerned to act in coordination with the Forest Department regarding disposal of the solid waste. Besides, he said that the municipal corporations which are yet to fix the user charge should decide the same in the next 10 days.
He laid thrust on removing things like unauthorised hoardings which are creating sight pollution in the cities. He directed the officers concerned to strictly enforce the advertisement display norms. He reiterated that there would not be any hoarding on the national highways.