Ahmedabad Mirror: Ahmedabad: Thursday, September 28, 2017.
Not a single person in the entire city spits in
public. And, no one pees in public in New West Zone and North Zone in
Ahmedabad. Don’t believe us? Ask the AMC. The corporation had issued a
notification in April 2015 that people who urinate or spit in the open will be fined. Two years
later, they have not caught anyone spitting in the open.
They have also been unable to find anyone peeing
in the New West Zone and North Zone. An RTI reply reveals that during this time
period, the AMC caught only 42
people urinating in the open and collected a total fine
of Rs 3,300 from them. As per the notification, a person caught urinating or spitting
in the open will be fined between Rs 50 and Rs 100. “In the 26 months since the notification
was issued, eight persons have been caught and fined Rs 500 in South Zone, 15 persons were fined Rs 1,300 in East Zone and two persons were fined Rs 400 in Central Zone,” the RTI
reply states.
It further
states, “Seven persons were caught and fined Rs 600 in West Zone. In
Navrangpura ward, five persons were caught and fined Rs 250, two persons were
fined Rs 100 in Naranpura while three persons were fined Rs 150 in Chandkheda
ward.” While you may have spotted people spitting or urinating in the open, AMC
officials have been unabled to find any in areas like Satellite, Thaltej, Prahladnagar,
Anandnagar, Shivrajani, and Iskcon which falls under New West Zone. Likewise,
no one was caught violating the rules in Asarwa, Naroda, Meghaninagar,
Kalapinagar and others areas under North Zone.
Another
drive
Despite the
failure in implementing this notification, the government is now gearing up to
celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary by organising a fortnight-long
campaign ‘Swachhta hi Sewa’ from September 15 to October 2. Social activist
Rohit Patel, who lives in Sola, says, “Last year, I visited West Virginia in
the US. There I saw a board on the highway warning citizens that a fine of
maximum $25,000 (Rs 16 lakh approx) will be levied if they dirty the roads in
any way.
In India, the
fine imposed is so meagre that it leaves no impact. And even that will work
only if the corporation is serious about taking offenders to task.” Meanwhile,
AMC Health Officer (incharge) Bhavin Solanki told Mirror, “We will pay
attention to the areas where the notification has not been implemented properly.
We will take more care. We will also conduct the swachchta campaign to make
sure that the city is clean.”
.JPG)
.JPG)
