Tidy tale: BBMP marshals keep black spots at bay

A marshal displays a PoS machine given by the Palike. DH PHOTO/KRISHNAKUMAR P S

The BBMP’s decision to deploy over 200 marshals in every ward to tackle the problem of littering and black spots is showing results, with the civic body clearing 289 such spots, besides recovering Rs 60 lakh in penalties in less than four months.

Enthused by the results, the BBMP on Saturday empowered the marshals, appointed following the direction of the high court, with PoS machines, which will help them generate receipts and enforce the SWM rules in an organised way.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa handed over the machines to the marshals in front of the Vidhana Soudha on Saturday.

BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar termed the deployment of marshals at Bellandur and Varthur as per the NGT direction the “right decision”.

“After deploying marshals, dumping of construction and demolition waste has been completely stopped around the lake. We have successfully evicted encroachers from the buffer zones and are able to control the fire incidents at the lake,” said Kumar.

“With their help, we could clear 289 black spots. In the past four months, we collected Rs 60 lakh in penalty in more than 4,000 cases for defying the plastic ban.”

A BBMP official said until now, marshals used to carry a bill book for levying penalty. “But henceforth, they will be equipped with PoS machines and penalty can be paid using debit, credit, cash or cheque and receipts can be collected on the spot,” the official said.

The BBMP on Saturday commissioned 17 mechanical sweeping machines to keep the city tidy. This apart, the civic body also launched an ambulance service with six vehicles. The new vehicles were flagged off by Yediyurappa.

The new ambulances will be stationed at Referral Hospitals in Hosahalli, H Siddaiah Road, Halasuru, JJR Nagar, Sriramapura and Banashankari to ferry emergency patients and new-born babies to super-speciality hospitals.

Enabling the citizens to lodge complaints, the Palike also launched ‘Sahaya 2.0’ and the ‘Namma Bengaluru’ app to facilitate a centralised complaints’ redressal cell for the BBMP, BWSSB, BESCOM, BMRCL, BDA, BMRDA and BMTC. Citizens can download the app from the BBMP website.

Sweeping statement

* Cost of each sweeping machine — Rs 1.35 crore

* Cost of 17 sweeping machines — Rs 23.10 crore

* Maintenance cost of each machine — Rs 5.17 lakh

* Cost of maintenance for five years — Rs 52.75 crore

* Cleaning distance— 40 km per day