Pay Rs 1,000 for peeing in public in Bengaluru

The BBMP has decided to crack down on littering, open defecation and urination in public by imposing fines of Rs 500 to Rs 1,000.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Wednesday notified the penalties under the BBMP Bylaws Schedule - VII.

The penalties will come into effect immediately.

First-time offenders will be fined Rs 500 while those who continue to violate the rule will pay Rs 1,000 for subsequent offences, the notification said.

The action against waste dumping is seen as a move to check unsegregated garbage from piling up at a time when landfills are full and the city is generating 6,000 tonnes of waste a day.

BBMP Joint Commissioner for Solid Waste Managment (SWM) Sarfaraz Khan said more than 400 personnel will be empowered to penalise litterbugs and those who urinate and defecate in the open.

“Each of the 198 wards has an SWM marshall and junior health inspector, who will collect fines. They will also enter the details of the offenders on a handheld device after verifying their identity card. The devices are GPS-enabled and record the location of the violation,” he said.

He said records will help officials track repeat offenders. “We will deploy additional personnel at places with high number of violations. For places like Bellandur, we already have lake marshalls who will guard the area,” he noted.