Clean-up marshals to check for hygiene, sanitation at Mumbai public hospitals from next week

“This measure is being implemented to make sure hygiene and sanitation are maintained in these health institutes. Besides imposing penalties, the marshals will also sensitise locals about hygiene and sanitation,” said Shinde.

Civic officials said that the marshals will be deployed at the six civic hospitals in Mumbai in a phased manner. Later, if there is a request, marshals may be deployed within the premises of private hospitals. The clean-up marshals returned to the streets of Mumbai in April this year after their prevuous contract got lapsed in March 2022.

First introduced in 2008, cleanup marshals have been instrumental in imposing sanitation discipline in the city. During the pandemic, the marshals were also responsible for collecting fines from those who were spotted without masks at public spaces.

Currently, the marshals have been deployed in five municipal wards and over the last one month, the BMC has generated Rs 3.34 lakh as fine from violators. Authorities said the most common imposed penalty imposed is Rs 200 for littering, soiling and spitting in public spaces, as per the SWM bylaws of BMC.

Civic officials said over the next one month, more marshals will be pressed into operation in the remaining civic wards in Mumbai.

“Since the marshals are responsible for imposing and collecting penalty from citizens, they have to undergo police verification before they are deployed. At present, the process of verification is taking more time than usual as the police personnel are also engaged in election duty. As soon as the remaining batches get verified, more marshals will be deployed in the remaining municipal wards,” an official told Express.