Amidst Allegations Of Corruption

As the police has not yet issued them a no-objection certificate (NoC), we have been forced to postpone our plans to start the scheme before monsoon,” said a top civic official from the solid waste management (SWM) department.The civic body had appointed 23 private security agencies that will appoint marshals at 778 places in the city to ensure cleanliness.“The registration of these agencies with the police has been going on since China Aluminum air grill the last month. However, the civic body was inundated with complaints of corruptionand high-handedness.The clean-up marshal scheme has been discontinued twice earlier – once in 2011 and the second time in 2014 – amidst allegations of corruption by the marshals.

Started in 2007, the civic body appointed several private agencies whose marshals were authorised to fine people who littered public places.However, some of the controversial clauses in the earlier scheme like a Rs 20,000 fine on dumping of debris and a Rs 10,000 fine for throwing biomedical waste have been removed from the scheme, said officials.This monsoon, the city may face cleanliness issues which could lead to a rise in monsoon-related ailments. The reason being the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s plans to restart the clean-up marshal scheme before the monsoon has hit a roadblock due to delay in security agencies getting police permission.

The civic body had made it compulsory for these agencies to register with the police and seek no-objection certificates (NoC) from them.Civic officials said clean-up marshals would be appointed at crowded places like markets, railway stations, roads, beaches, commercial complexes and hawking zones with the authority to fine people for spitting, urinating and littering in public places.