Mumbai: BMC Reinstates Clean-Up Marshals to Tackle Littering in the City

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has revived the cleanup marshal scheme to curb litter in the city. The implementation of the scheme has started on a pilot basis from Tuesday from the 'A' department of the civic body. Cleanup marshals will take punitive action online. 

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The IT department of the civic body has developed the app, which is expected to ensure that there is no malpractice while taking punitive action from the marshal. The scheme, which had been implemented earlier, was shelved due to misconduct by marshals. 

Cleanup marshals were deployed to take punitive action against those who did not wear masks during the pandemic. However their contracts were canceled after the civic body received complaints that they were collecting illegal fines. The civic body noticed that the roads were being littered as there were no cleanup marshals in the city at present. 

Sanitation ambassadors were then appointed to carry out the cleanliness drive on a large scale. They are raising awareness about cleanliness, informing the administration and doing sanitation work, monitoring the segregation of waste in societies. However, cleanup marshals will be deployed for punitive action to keep an eye on those indulging in unhygienic practices. For this, trained marshals have been appointed in each department.

"As per the current system, the cleanup marshal will have the power to impose a minimum fine of Rs 100 and a maximum of Rs 1,000. The online punitive action began on Tuesday. Therefore, citizens should cooperate with this scheme and contribute to a clean Mumbai." - Dr. Sudhakar Shinde, Additional Commissioner

Here's how the action will be taken:

The cleanup marshal has a small printer that runs on mobile Bluetooth. They will issue a receipt of the fine amount through this printer. This will ensure that citizens are not inconvenienced by the marshals. No other printed receipts will be used. The fine amount will be credited to the bank account of the Cleanup Marshal organization.