Odisha's Sambalpur Municipal Corporation imposes Rs 100 penalty for urinating in public

SAMBALPUR: Urinating in the open in Sambalpur city will now attract a fine of Rs 100. With an eye to achieving the open-defecation free (ODF) ++ status, the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) has decided to impose the penalty on people peeing in public from Monday. 

Enforcement officer of SMC Subhankar Mohanty said the decision to crack down on this public menace was taken to ensure that no one is found polluting the city.

Mohanty said the enforcement squad of SMC as well as Ward officers will do rounds in the city and prosecute the violators. The civic body will continue to hold awareness campaigns to educate people about the menace.

There are 84 public toilets including 18 modular ones in the city. Besides, another 15 public toilets are being constructed at different places. Mohanty said almost all 41 Wards of the city have public toilets. 

The SMC is planning to develop more toilets in rural areas which have been merged with the municipal corporation

SMC has also tagged locations of public toilets on Google map to facilitate people find the facilities. A person in need can search the nearby location of the nearest public toilet on Google map.

Mohanty said the city has already been declared open-defecation free (ODF). Besides, SMC has achieved ODF+ as a septage treatment plant is available at Khandual. In order to get the ODF ++ status, SMC has to stop people from urinating in open as it is one of the criteria, he added.