Penal measures being mulled against littering of public spaces

GHMC introduces sanitation vehicles with cameras to monitor garbage piles, aiming to penalize litterers and alter public behavior.

The city could soon witness a new kind of sanitation vehicles with the name of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation displaying a camera fitted on the top.

The vehicles will ply on the roads, with the camera rotating 360 degrees to film the roadsides for garbage piles. Appearance of garbage mounds could result in penal action against the litterers.

On pilot basis, a vehicle is being plied in the Uppal circle, and if successful, the vehicles could be replicated across the city, informed GHMC officials.

With a mind to alter public behaviour towards littering of public spaces, the GHMC has already installed cameras equipped with sensors at about 10-15 locations in the city, together with automatic sound systems.

“We installed them at locations which get frequently littered resulting in garbage vulnerable points. When the sensor catches the image of a person loitering around, the sound system gets activated, issuing a warning against littering the place. This has worked wonders,” shared an official.

In addition to these measures, the GHMC is seriously mulling over levying penalties on the commercial establishments littering the roads.

Towards this, the corporation is planning to design an app in the lines of the Traffic Police, to be used by the sanitary jawans while visiting the outlets. The jawans will take photos of the litter on the road and upload it in the app, before levying penalties.