The health wing of the city Corporation has stepped up its drive against those who dump waste in public places, following increasing instances of the same in recent weeks.
In checks carried out in recent days, a total fine amount of ₹19,070 was imposed on various individuals in the Nanthencode health circle alone.
The checks against waste dumping had slowed down after the COVID-19 outbreak, as the health officials were deployed for other work including implementation of quarantine rules and running of isolation centres.
According to health officials, some of those against whom action was taken used to collect waste from houses claiming that they would hand it over to collection centres and dump it on the road. Fine amounts ranging from ₹500 to ₹5,000 were imposed on the waste dumpers, with the fine depending on the amount of waste dumped.
On flyovers
“We had to spend quite a few days at various locations, where bags of waste used to be dumped regularly, to catch the offenders. The health teams take turns to carry out surveillance round the clock. In the Plamoodu-PMG road, we had to keep vigil for more than ten days to catch a person who used to dump large quantities of waste periodically. It is the repeat offenders who are imposed with heftier fines,” says Health Inspector S.S. Minu.
The health wing has found that the flyovers in the city are a preferred location for some to regularly dump waste, as CCTV cameras are absent here and no squads are present.
Sacks and plastic covers filled with waste have been noticed regularly towards the middle portion of the flyovers at Pazhavangadi as well as at Chacka, sources said.
According to health officials, quite a few of those who were caught claimed to be unaware of the facilities opened by the city Corporation for collecting biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
Collection hubs
The civic body runs waste collection hubs as well as material recovery facilities for segregated, non-biodegradable waste and aerobic bins for processing biodegradable waste.
It also supplies kitchen bins at nominal rates for processing biodegradable waste in households.
