Citizens face whopping Rs 2 lakh fine for non-segregation of household waste
BENGALURU:
Under a draconian new measure of the state government, citizens will have to pay a whopping Rs 2 lakh if household waste is not segregated as per official guidelines. That amounts to 200 times the current fine of Rs 1,000 levied by local bodies in the state!
The Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Second Amendment) bill, 2020, passed by the state assembly on Friday, proposes a clearly extortionate penalty of Rs 2 lakh on individual households for not disposing of solid waste ‘in a scientific manner’ as per the Central government’s Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, including those of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Rs 1,000 isn’t ‘fine’!
Addressing the assembly on the issue, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said the earlier fine was a ‘meagre’ Rs 1,000.
The proposed law ostensibly takes its cue from several PILs in the Karnataka High Court complaining of solid waste generated in the BBMP limits not being disposed of ‘scientifically’ as per the rules framed by the Centre.
