Look before litter,volunteers could slap fines as high as Rs 500

The BMC move to invite lay Mumbaikars to become ‘warning volunteers’ in November last year received good response from colleges and NGOs,following which 140 volunteers were selected after appearing for a written test,personal interview and security training. They were authorised to warn litterbugs. Following last week’s training,they can now impose fines under 18 categories of offences like spitting,urinating,defecating,washing and bathing on the road,not cleaning pet’s poop etc.

Kunal Kulkarni (20),a hotel management student from Vile Parle,says,“I want my city to be clean and I have been trying to sensitise people on the issue. But people are largely apathetic and they don’t take me seriously. Now that I have a right to fine,I will be able to penalise defaulters. Old habits die hard,so without punishment the mindset of people won’t change.”

The volunteers will be allowed to keep 20 per cent of the fine with themselves.

The training was carried out by BMC official in-charge Seema Redkar,Clean-Up marshals and representatives from United Way of Mumbai,the third-party auditors of the campaign. “As this is the first time that lay citizens will be allowed to fine fellow citizens for littering,it was essential to train them for simple things like behaving politely while dealing with a defaulter. The aim is not just to fine but also to sensitise the citizens about making Mumbai a cleaner place to live,” Redkar said.

The training also dealt with the Cleanliness and Sanitation bylaws of the civic body. The volunteers will be accompanied by the clean-up marshals in the first 15 days. “We will be with the volunteers initially so that they can watch us and learn how to deal with difficult people,” said Jitendra Sharma who has been a marshal since November 2007.

Akshay Shah (21),an entrepreneur from Andheri,said,“We were given a booklet on the do’s and don’ts of fining. We were given instructions on how to handle different circumstances.”