Mangaluru City Corporation imposes penalty on 10 apartments not complying with waste management rules

Mangaluru: Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has penalised 10 apartments in the city on Thursday for not complying with the rules related to waste management.
MCC environment engineer Madhu S Manohar said the city corporation has penalised Coral Apartment, Yemmekere, HH Diamond City, near M R Bhat Lane, Zulfa’s Master Piece, Marnamikatte, Pearl Apartment, Pandeshwara, Mourishka Park, Near PVS Circle, Dynasty Apartment, Valencia, Hi-Streak Apartment, near Kaikamba Market, Plama Icon, near Kaikamba Market, Shalom Apartment, Maria Nagara and Royal Park, Valencia. A total Rs 1.5 lakh has been collected as penalty from the apartments for not adhering to the solid waste management rules. A team of officials from the health section of MCC will conduct spot visits at all apartments and other bulk waste generating premises, Manohar said.
Recently, MCC commissioner Shanady Ajith Kumar Hegde had warned all bulk waste generators to have their own waste management units or else cough up hefty fines. Hegde had said that fines to the tune of Rs 25,000 will be levied on bulk waste generators, including apartments, small industries, hostels, educational institutions, marriage halls and restaurants from February 10, if they do not set up waste management units in their premises.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has expressed its concern over urban local bodies failing to manage solid waste effectively. The NGT has issued guidelines and directed the government to submit a compliance report once in three months. Hence, the state government is very serious about the implementation of solid waste management rules, 2016. Accordingly, the MCC has already conducted workshops twice on July 3, 2019 and September 27, 2019, for all bulk waste generators including apartments, hostels, educational institutions, hotels, restaurants, marriage halls, catering services, merchants, chicken stalls, small industries, builders and others. Initially, they were given October 31, 2019 as the deadline to comply with the waste management rules. However, most of them have not installed waste management units in their premises.
“In the first phase, a penalty of Rs 25,000 will be levied from all stakeholders, who have not complied with the rules, and the fine amount will be increased to Rs 50,000 in the second phase, and later criminal cases will be booked against them,” the commissioner said.