Mysuru: Cracking down on litterbugs, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is using footages from CCTV cameras installed at various vantage points in city to identify garbage throwers and  penalise them. 

Fines between Rs.100 and Rs.1,000 are being levied as per the Municipal Corporation bylaws. Already may rule violators have been fined and MCC officers say that the system was working well.

A number of CCTV cameras placed at vantage points near garbage mounds are recording movements and the MCC authorities will land up at people’s doorsteps with a  penalisation notice.

Already, 14 more cameras have been installed at the corners of commercial complexes, residential areas and choultries to identify garbage throwers. Visuals are recorded 24×7 and officers are particularly watching visuals recorded during nights as litterbugs choose to throw waste on streets under the cover of darkness. 

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, MCC Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraj said that the Civic Body was fed up of people dumping garbage on roadsides despite many awareness activities and door-to-door collection of garbage. “Now we are penalising violators so that they will learn a lesson,” he said.

“We want to take the Clean City initiative a step further. Usually when it comes to Clean City image, only the main areas such as Bus Stands, Railway Station, in and around the Palace and other areas get attention. In the process, residential pockets are ignored. We want to focus on these areas to spread the message of cleanliness and that is why this step has been taken,” he said. 

The MCC will monitor the CCTV footages regularly and identify people who dump waste. “A fine will be levied for the first-time offender. If the offence is repeated, a case will be booked with the authority bestowed on the MCC,” she said. 

“Residents, despite many awareness drives and publicity campaigns, do not hand over dry and wet waste when MCC vehicles come to their areas. Instead, they throw waste indiscriminately and don’t even throw them at designated bins. CCTV camera monitoring will put an end to all this,” Nagaraj reasoned.

Many commercial establishments had approached the MCC to prevent people from throwing garbage near their premises. Following the complaints, the MCC came up with a plan and asked the commercial establishments to install CCTV cameras and record the footages to nail the culprits. 

Besides seeking footage from commercial establishments, a team of Health Department officials surveyed all the 65 wards and identified 14 spots where trash is being unloaded in public spaces. These spots have been designated ‘Garbage Vulnerable Points’ and cameras have been installed there. 

“The owner of the commercial establishment will go through the recorded footage and if he stumbles upon a clip wherein somebody is dumping trash on the road or at any undesignated place, we will be intimated. The footage will be sent to the respective Corporator through WhatsApp and the Corporator will have a team to identify and penalise the litterbugs,” Nagaraj explained. 

As many people tend to dump waste in public spaces under the cover of darkness, the MCC has alerted the Abhaya team and sanitary supervisors to monitor these places. “After slapping fines, people have stopped dumping waste at the spots. This is working out well. An example is Rehmania Street in Ward Number 50 where many people used to dump garbage at night. Now after a couple of people have been fined, the menace has stopped,” said Nagaraj. 

The MCC Health Officer also added that CCTV cameras have also been fixed at a couple of locations at Vidyaranyapuram Sewage Farm following complaints of Kerala trucks dumping garbage around. 

“Our health workers verify the images and pursue them to catch wrongdoers and moreover, people have been supporting us giving us the footage from their premises to crackdown on wrongdoers. We are looking at installing more cameras in some key locations as the initiative has worked to stop garbage dumping on roadsides,” he added.