MCC obtains CCTV camera footage from to nab miscreants dumping garbage in public spaces

Mysuru: Determined to put an end to the practice among a section of residents of dumping garbage on the sides of the road, authorities of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is enlisting the assistance of commercial establishments. Since most business entities in the city have closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed on their premises, MCC authorities are using these eyes on the streets as a collective device to catch miscreants in the act. In what sources in the agency call an unwritten memorandum of understanding between the MCC and the commercial establishments, the civic agency will use the footage from the CCTV cameras to bring miscreants indiscriminately dumping garbage in public places and marring the beauty of the city to book.
That the city continued to be dotted by mounds of garbage despite pourakarmikas diligently collecting waste from each household on a daily basis indicates the unwillingness of some miscreants to take their civic duties seriously.
The MCC health department’s patience with these miscreants appears to be running thin, prompting the officials to conceive of ideas that might not be deemed strictly conventional. Besides seeking footage from commercial establishments, a team of health department official led by the MCC health officer DG Nagaraj surveyed all the 65 wards under the civic agency’s purview and identified twelve spots where trash is being unloaded in public spaces. These black spots have been designated ‘Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs)’. It was after the ‘Dirty Dozen’ of black spots was finalised that the MCC came up with a plan of roping in commercial establishments to put an end to this persistent problem.
MCC will levy a hefty fine on those found dirtying public spaces, sources in the civic agency said. Nagaraj confirmed to TOI that the civic agency had arrived at an agreement with commercial establishments. “The owner will go through the recorded footage, and if he or she stumbles upon a clip wherein somebody is unloading trash on the road or at any undesignated place, we will be intimated. We will identify those flouting these civic laws with the help of our pourakarmikas, and penalise them,” he added.
Nagaraj admitted that the problem could not be solved by sourcing footage from CCTV cameras alone. “Most people tend to unload waste in public spaces under the cover of night. So, we have also asked those in the ABhaya team, and sanitary supervisors to monitor these places,” Nagaraj said.
On discovering that miscreants had taken to dumping garbage in the vicinity of St Philomena’s Chruch, a popular landmark in Mysuru, the agency collected footage from a commercial establishment, in pursuance of which personnel from the Abhaya team were able nab a miscreant unloading garbage near the place of worship red-handed. “The result is there for all to see. Nobody is now dumping garbage near the church,” said Nagaraj, adding that they had installed CCTV cameras near the city’s APMC Yard and the JP Nagar Compost Plant.
Mysuru’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ – Garbage Vulnerable Points
*BB Park, Agrahara
*Nanjumalige Market, Krishnamurthypuram
*Kalidasa Road, Vontikoppal
*Lokayukta Office, Krishna Vilas Road, Devaraja Mohalla
*Jain Bhavan Convention Hall, Diwan’s Road, Lakshmipuram
*KHB Colony, Kuvempunagar
*Second Main Road, First Cross, Vidranyapuram
*St Philomena’s Church, Ashoka Road
*Kalabaireshwara School, Rajendra Nagar