Mumbai: BMC‘s clean marshals armed with digital fining system to be deployed soon

Clean marshals fining civilians for not wearing masks. File Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Clean marshals of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be active in the next 7 to 10 days. The civic body is finalising the digital mode payment system and police verification of marshals. The BMC discontinued the marshal services in 2022 after their contract ended amidst extortion allegations. But BMC officials feel there is a need for marshals to keep tabs on people who do not follow regulations.

"People do not follow the cleanliness guideline of BMC, we need to keep a tab on them to keep the city clean," said a BMC official. Chief Engineer of the Solid Waste Management Department P K Tayshete confirmed that the appointment of the clean-up marshals is in the final stage and will be active soon.

"This time, clean-up marshals are armed with a digital payment system. They can collect fines through UPI mode. The technology for the payment is in its final stage. This will provide transparency. The process of police verification has started. The fine will be split 50-50 between the BMC and the contractor. This is not our revenue source, we are implementing this to keep the city clean, said the official.

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BMC is going to appoint 30 marshals in each ward. There will be 720 marshals in 24 wards. According to the proposal, marshals will have the authority to impose fines ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 for littering. They will be authorised to penalise individuals for illegal garbage and debris dumping, burning waste, spitting, littering, and not picking up pet waste.

The BMC had previously considered a program called ‘Swachata Doot' without fining capabilities. In some wards, Swachata Doot is working as volunteers are appealing to citizens to keep the city clean. The program will now be replaced by marshals.

The civic body had initially deployed the clean-up marshals in 2006 and reappointed them in July 2016. During the pandemic, BMC allowed marshals to collect fines from people who were not wearing masks.