For the first time in 17 years, the BMC has enforced a penalty of Rs 100 for burning garbage in the open, resulting in 42 cases being registered between November and December in Mumbai. The civic body has also collected Rs 25,000 in penalties. This comes after a report on October 25 revealed that no one had been penalized for open garbage burning in 17 years, and the penalty amount of Rs 100 has not been revised for nearly two decades.
BMC data shows that the highest penalty recovery of Rs 10,000 was from F/North ward, followed by Rs 5,000 from C ward and Rs 2,200 each from R/Central and B wards. The penalty cases were recorded between November 4 and December 7, with no cases in wards A, E, H/West, and M/West.
Sudhakar Shinde, additional municipal commissioner, stated that starting January, manpower will be deployed to monitor garbage burning in Mumbai. He emphasized that open garbage burning is not allowed in Mumbai, and penalties were imposed by BMC officials appointed as part of nuisance detection squads. In addition, marshals will be deployed from January to enhance monitoring of garbage burning.
The BMC’s Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan (MAPMP) identified garbage burning as one of the top five factors contributing to the city’s deteriorating air quality index (AQI). Other factors included dust from construction sites, road dust, unclean fuel usage, and various industries.
Civic officials noted that many violators penalized in the past two months were caught making bonfires during winter, and fines recovered exceeded the number of cases registered. Additionally, individuals were caught disposing of garbage by burning, with many cases found in slum pockets.
BMC data also revealed that fines were levied on construction sites for flouting dust mitigation norms, resulting in a recovery of Rs 17.25 lakh, and Rs 11.28 lakh was collected from those who dumped garbage in the open.
Officials clarified that while collecting fines is important, the primary objective is compliance with norms, and penalties are the last resort for persistent violators. Since October 20, close to a thousand intimation letters were issued, and those who continued to flout norms were penalized or faced police complaints.
