Littering penalty up to Rs 1 lakh in Bengal

 Move made in the wake of a recent survey by entomologists that said around 50% of mosquito-breeding sites were unused containers and other discarded items left out in the open

Garbage dumped in a residential area at Serampore in Hooghly. : Amit Karmakar

Snehamoy Chakraborty   |  TT  |   Calcutta   |   19.11.22 : The State Urban Development Agency (Suda) has directed authorities of all civic bodies across Bengal to take up a big campaign against littering on vacant land and unmanaged waterbodies, and put up permanent display boards on the penalty for violation that can go up to Rs 1 lakh.

The move was made in the wake of a recent survey by entomologists — on behalf of the state health department — that said around 50 per cent of mosquito-breeding sites were unused containers and other discarded items left out in the open, leading to the spread of dengue.

The health department forwarded the survey report to the urban development department for action.

“Conduct extensive IEC (information, education, and communication) through leaflets among the residents in the catchment area of unmanaged water-bodies...,” read the November 15 Suda order.

“Permanent display boards are to be up, where any person caught littering is to pay a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh...,” it added.

Officials in several municipalities said cleanliness drives tended to be an unending process for vacant plots and unmanaged waterbodies because residents keep dirtying them.

Officials in the state urban development department said civic bodies had often complained that although they undertook regular vector-control drives, people repeatedly littered solid waste, discarded materials and containers.

“Unused containers or cans left out in the open collect rainwater and become breeding sites of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (that spread dengue),” said an official.

The Suda order comes before Monday’s dengue review meeting by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The state, so far, has reported around 60,000 dengue cases, the highest in five years.

On Friday, 366 dengue cases were reported from 5,339 samples tested in Bengal. Health officials, however, claimed that dengue cases were on the decline now, and the situation would further improve as the temperature falls.