Mechanised sweeping agencies to be taken to task for violations

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to penalise the private agencies managing mechanised sweeping machines on finding that waste was being dumped at places other than the designated sites. The BMC has also formulated seven more rules, the violation of which will attract fines.
For dumping the generated waste (dust sucked by the machines while sweeping), at places other than the designated ones, the BMC will impose Rs 10,000 on the agency for single violation. If it repeats, the amount will go on increasing.
“The move is aimed at reining in the agencies, which were found during surprise inspections, violating certain norms,” said a BMC officer.
The BMC has also made penalty provisions for other violations by the agencies such as failure to response to complaints within 24 hours. If people complain regarding waste not being lifted or unclean roads, the agency should respond to them within 24 hours failing which it will have to pay a fine of Rs 600 for one complaint up to five days and Rs 1,000 if the complaint remains unaddressed for more than five days.
If the water nozzle of the dust sucking machine doesn’t work and it is caught by the squad, the agency will have to cough up Rs 1,000 per default (one instance). Then, in case the GPS device of the sweeping machine not working, the agencies will have to pay Rs 5,000 per system default per day.
GPS device helps BMC track the sweeping truck movements. The agencies will also have to pay fine if they don’t have the required number of labour or staff engaged in sweeping.