2 Dustbin Norms: Vendors Fined Rs 1 Lakh, Bhubaneswar Fares Poorly In Waste Segregation

Bhubaneswar: Street vendors in Odisha capital have been fined over the last three days for flouting the two-dustbin norm and sanitation guidelines.

According to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) sources, Rs 65,000 fine was collected from vendors and traders from different markets on Tuesday and Wednesday for sanitation guidelines violation and Rs 39,000 as a penalty for not using two dustbins to segregate dry and wet waste, scattering and garbage dumping on road.

The civic body collected Rs 43,000 from South West zone, around Rs 23,000 from South East zone and Rs 37,000 from North zone.s.

“Despite constant requests and orders, many vendors were found flouting the sanitation norms at different markets,” BMC’s Deputy commissioner for sanitation Suvendu Kumar Sahoo said.

WASTE SEGREGATION

Recently, the BMC had cautioned that residential houses, commercial establishments, vendors, and shopkeepers to keep two dustbins else cough up Rs 5,000 as a fine. It also warned that handing over waste without segregation will attract a fine of Rs 500.

Adding to it, the door-to-door garbage collection will soon be monitored by the ‘Safa Bhubaneswar’ app within a month or two. The residents of Bhubaneswar will be able to book BMC garbage-lifting vehicles to pick up party waste, commercial waste as well as domestic waste.

The app was developed by BMC with the help of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL).

“The main objective of the application is to provide sanitation service to bulk waste generators who are being forced to dump garbage at random places due to lack of space for their safe disposal,” BMC Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange said.

Notably, the online booking service for bulk waste generators such as hotels, restaurants, apartments, and other stakeholders on the digital platform will be free initially.

Later, the civic body will charge a certain amount for the collection, transportation, and safe processing of the waste.

Besides, the residents will be able to use the application to pay holding tax, and book water tankers, and cesspool vehicles.

It is pertinent to mention here that the trial run of the application has been completed and it is available for download on Google Play Store. However, the formal launching of the application is yet to be done. Till then, the online service will be available at only limited locations.

“The software is also being integrated with ‘Bhubaneswar.me’ portal and application to help those who don’t want to download multiple applications,” said Kulange.

A study by the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), however, showed that 78% households in the city do not segregate their wastes and the majority do not understand what waste segregation means.