Kolkata, Sep 1 (PTI) Spitting on roads and littering in public places will attract fines in West Bengal from Tuesday as the BJP government steps up efforts to keep cities clean, with Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Pal insisting that the move is aimed at changing public behaviour rather than filling government coffers.
Under the new enforcement drive, a person caught spitting in public will be fined Rs 100, while dumping garbage or spreading filth in public places will attract a Rs 200 penalty.
Open defecation or urination in public will also invite a Rs 200 fine, while use of single-use plastic carry bags below 125 microns will similarly attract a penalty of Rs 200.
The government initiative comes against the backdrop of existing legal provisions against littering and public spitting, which, officials and civic authorities have often struggled to enforce effectively.
Pal said the fines were deliberately kept nominal and should not be viewed as a revenue-generation exercise.
“Rather than imposing strictness to collect money through fines, our objective is to make people aware. We do not intend to take money from people by imposing fines,” she told reporters on Tuesday.
“We want Kolkata and other cities of our state to become beautiful,” she said.
The minister acknowledged that penalties alone cannot make cities cleaner and said a change in public attitude was essential.
“It is not possible for the government alone to keep a city clean. Unless it comes from people’s hearts, this cannot be achieved by a whip, a stick or fines,” Pal said.
She urged people to develop a sense of ownership towards the places where they live.
“People have to feel that this city also belongs to them,” she said, adding that the department’s goal was to create precisely that sentiment.
Pal said awareness could not be generated through a handful of campaigns every year.
“Ten programmes in a year will not bring awareness. The feeling has to come that this is my city, this is my state, and I will not make it dirty. That is what we want. We hope to see a difference over the next year,” she said.
Making a direct appeal to commuters, she said, “Before opening the car window and throwing out a packet, before spitting from a bus, please think once.” The government, however, has admitted that civic infrastructure is yet to be fully prepared for stricter enforcement.
Pal said dustbins were being installed at various locations, particularly in markets and near railway stations, while steps were also being taken to increase the availability of public toilets.
“We know that we are not fully prepared yet. We are arranging for dustbins and have already directed that toilets be constructed at different places. The process has started,” she said.
“From today, fines are beginning, but our work of providing dustbins and building toilets is also continuing,” she added.
The department is also encouraging manufacturers of plastic products to shift from banned varieties to permissible alternatives.
To provide alternatives to plastic carry bags, vending machines are being arranged in market areas.
Pal said two types of machines would be made available. One would dispense bags made from corn-based material at Rs 1 each, while another would provide cloth bags priced at Rs 5 to Rs 10.
“We are sending vending machines to different places or providing funds and facilitating contacts. Orders can also be placed directly. It will take some time because there are a large number of markets across the state,” she said.
The minister said dustbins would not be placed inside residential areas. Instead, households would be encouraged to segregate their waste into two types of bags and hand it over to sanitation workers.
The crackdown also revives provisions that have existed in the state for several years.
Under the amended municipal law of 2019, spitting in public could attract a fine of up to Rs 1,000. In Kolkata, illegal dumping of waste carried fines ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 5,000.
Despite these provisions, effective implementation has repeatedly remained a challenge. The BJP government, however, did not clarify whether it would amend these laws.
The latest drive therefore puts the spotlight not only on the size of the fines but also on whether they are actually enforced on the streets.
For commuters, the difference could soon be visible in some of the most routine moments of city life — a plastic packet tossed from a car window, a commuter spitting from a bus or waste being dumped beside a busy market.
The government hopes that the Rs 100 or Rs 200 penalty will serve less as a punishment and more as a reminder that keeping public spaces clean is a shared responsibility.
The BJP government in the state has completed four months after assuming office, and Pal’s admission that civic preparations are still underway indicates that the implementation of the new enforcement regime will be closely watched in the coming days. PTI PNT NN
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