Mysore/Mysuru: To give some muscle to the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to stop people from dumping garbage on the Outer Ring Road, CCTV cameras will be installed all along the 43.5 km stretch. Officials say that digital surveillance instils fear among those who are throwing garbage illegally. They say that the initiative will be of help in identifying those who are dumping waste, be it the local residents, villagers or commercial establishments. 

Over 75 CCTV cameras will be installed along the road at various vantage points for surveillance and action. This was decided at a meeting of Gram Panchayats along the road, MCC, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) officials at Zilla Panchayat Hall on Monday. The meeting, also attended by Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) was chaired by MP Pratap Simha. 

“MCC, Gram Panchayats and MUDA would supply 25 CCTV cameras each and the installation process would be complete in 15 days,” the MP told reporters after the meeting. The onus of checking the garbage dumping and controlling the menace rests with the PDOs, he added. 

The city is on the verge of turning into one big dump yard with garbage being strewn everywhere. Isolated places like the service roads of the Outer Ring Road are the new favourite spots for people and business establishments to  dump garbage. 

Garbage at sewage farm

In the absence of a dedicated garbage dump, villages of Belavatha, Sathagalli, Hinkal, Koorgali, Bogadi, Srirampura, Hosahundi, Hanchya, Alanahalli and Siddalingapura discard waste all along the Ring Road. “I will strive to identify suitable land for waste disposal and appeal to the MCC to allow the garbage generated in the villages along the Ring Road to be transported to the Sewage Farm in Mysuru till the completion of the Swachh Survekshan 2021 survey,”  he said. 

“We have identified 13 places as ‘hotspots’ where garbage is dumped. Besides, there are 30 places where building debris and other waste materials are dumped,” he added. Outgoing MCC Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde agreed to the suggestion to transport the garbage from these villages provided there was waste segregation at source. 

Henceforth, the PDOs of the respective villages will be held responsible and penalised for any garbage dumping that takes place along the Ring Road stretch coming within their jurisdiction. PDOs must inspect the road under their jurisdiction to ensure that the Ring Road remains garbage-free,” the MP said. 

Flex, banners

As per the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act 1981, putting up unauthorised flexes, banners or hoardings anywhere in the State will invite a penalty or a jail term. “One cannot erect advertisement materials or flex banners without written permission from the MCC. 

The punishment for violation varies from penalty to six months of imprisonment or both. This also means one cannot disfigure public places in any form like painting on walls or sticking bills or posters, Pratap Simha said and asked the MCC to enforce the law strictly, even against political parties who flout rules. Outgoing ZP Chief Executive Officer Paramesh, Taluk Panchayat EO Krishna Kumar, NHAI Assistant Executive Engineer Puttaraju, MCC Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraju, Dasharath of Namma Mysuru Foundation and others were present.