Up to Rs5,000 fine for dirtying Mumbai's nullahs, rivers

Though the civic body claims to have de-silted 95% of the city nullahs, its efforts go down the drain when residents dump garbage into them.

The corporation has thus decided to take penal action against those caught dumping garbage, thermocol or plastic into the rivers and nullahs. The fine can range between Rs100 and Rs5,000 depending on the nature of the offence.

Swadhin Kshatriya, the municipal commissioner, said on Friday, “The ward’s executive engineer will ensure that the rivers and nullahs are not water-logged. We have increased the holding capacity of the rivers and nullahs, along with their water discharge and pumping capacity. They have been widened and retainer walls have been built on them.”

The civic body has also readied teams in the city as well as the suburbs to penalise those using plastic bags that are less than 50 microns in width.

“Assistant municipal commissioners of all the 24 wards will monitor these teams dedicated to detecting plastic and thermocol dumping in the nullahs and rivers,” said Kshatriya.