Garbage on open plots: NMC to fine owners, auction properties
Nagpur: owners of vacant plots in Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) will be fined if they do not stop people from littering their property. The health department of NMC has proposed to charge such owners for the removal of garbage of Rs50 per sq more.
In the proposal submitted to the Standing Committee, the Department also requested that the auctioning of such properties should the owners fail to keep the premises clean.
The Health Department prepared the proposal after Mayor Sandip Joshi had received complaints from several residents about the serious health risks posed by open plots due to the accumulation of garbage and water stagnation for many years.
The proposal states that if the garbage is found on any open plot, the department would issue a notice to clear it within two days. If the owner has not complied with the notification, the costs involved in clearing the litter will be recovered from the defaulting owners, the proposal stated. If the owner fails to pay the costs incurred and to stop the dumping of the garbage on his property, the NMC will auction those properties under the relevant sections of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act.
In the past, the corporation had asked the owners of open plots to remove bushes, garbage, trash and fences. Corporators like Abha Pande had raised the issue at a meeting of the General Body on several occasions.
In 2014, the NMC passed strict rules for the dumping, collection and destruction of waste under the open plot control rule. It had a provision to levy a fine of up to Rs5,000 or to file a police complaint against the owners of the plot. By-laws for the Dumping, Collection and Destruction of Waste on the Open Plot Control Rule 2014 were forwarded to the State Government for approval on 15 March 2016. However, they have not yet been cleared, “said a senior NMC health (health) officer.
“As a result, we could not take punitive measures against the polluters,” the official said.
Joshi recently directed the Assistant Municipal Commissioners of all 10 zones and the Property Tax Department to identify private and government plots to be used as garbage and warned their owners. Before removing it, the officials will take a photograph of the garbage and use it as evidence.
OTHER PROPOSALS* The medical department of NMC (medicine) has sought the appointment of 29 doctors, including one physician, two gynecologists, 11 male physicians, two homeopaths, eight ayurvedic physicians on contract basis for their clinics. The Department will require Rs93.60 lakh* Sports and Cultural Department has requested Rs46.35 lakh to organize three-day Vaishakh Din Mahotsav to mark the birth of Gautam Buddha* Garden Department seeks Rs31.32 lakh and Rs24.82 lakh for garden development in Yogeshwar Gruh Nirman Housing Society and Vaishno Devi Nagar, respectively* General Administration Department has sought nod to NMC spends more than Rs7.30 crore per year on 300 security guards in its various establishments and offices.
