People will have to think twice before littering a public place in Guwahati from now on.
The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has warned that they will penalize people even for spitting on footpaths, streets or public places.
The GMC has opened four WhatsApp numbers for people to post pictures of people spitting or littering the cityscapes. The Corporation has also announced a cash reward of Rs 1000 for such images.
The development came after the newly opened flyover at Dispur Super Market was littered by spitting pan on the paintings of its walls and pasting advertisement posters on its pillars.
“Around 5 percent of the citizens here have been found to be littering in the city. They spit pan and throw garbage everywhere. We have fined some of them with Rs 5000 earlier but this section of people continues to be littering the city,” GMC commissioner Devasish Sharma told reporters in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Sharma said that it’s impossible to control such people and a set of ruled and regulation have to be enforced strictly.
“We will register FIRs against these people if needed under our GMC law. We have also decided to open helplines where people can post pictures of violators and their addresses. We will reward the complainant with Rs 1000,” he said.
The WhatsApp numbers issued by GMC were 8811007000, 7399003001, 7399003002 and 7399003004 where denizens can post pictures of offenders.
The GMC authority has also ordered the various groups and agencies who have pasted posters at public places without the Corporation’s permission to remove them within 15 days or to face legal actions.
“We are going to slap a fine of Rs 1000 upon the violator for the first violation. But if the person repeats the offense then he or she will be slapped with higher penalty,” Sharma added.