All is not fine with the fines collected by various civic authorities as an RTI application filed by activist Aaftab Siddique reveals
All is not fine with the fines collected by various civic authorities as an RTI application filed by activist Aaftab Siddique reveals
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| Bandra-based activist Aaftab Siddique. Pic/Shailesh Bhatia |
Siddique filed the application to the Public information and H west officials, who are responsible for Bandra, Khar and Santacruz West, for information on fines by building proposal, solid waste management (SWM), license (advertising), garden, building factory and shop establishment departments.
Topping the list is the building proposal department, which has collected over Rs 32.25 crore between 2007 and 2009. "A closer glance shows that the builder lobby has paid a premium fine to legalise alterations, after submitting the floor plans and drawings for approval," said Siddique.
Second is the SWM dept, which has earned over Rs 32 lakh in the last three years by fining offenders for spitting, unruly garbage disposal and using thin plastic bags.
The health department of H west has collected Rs 33.72 lakh between 2000 and 2009, while the licence department has collected barely Rs 3 lakh since 2000. The fine should be running into crores, since one costs the offender anything between Rs 1,200 and 5,000.
The building factory and shop establishment hasn't collected a rupee, despite having the authority to collect fine when it demolishes illegal structures. "This is why BMC has to dig into its reserve funds, and the tax payers have to bear the burden," said Siddique.
