Throw trash on streets? HDMC will return it to your doorstep

Hubballi: Are you dumping garbage bags with receipts, courier covers or any documents carrying your address or phone number? Beware. HDMC officials may trace it back and dump the waste at your doorstep as a penalty.

In a bid to curb rampant street littering, the civic body has decided to return garbage to the homes of offenders, using video evidence and clues found in trash to identify them. Officials have also launched a drive to collect fines after re-dumping waste at violators’ residences.Mayor Jyothi Patil told TOI that the initiative is being rolled out alongside the ongoing footpath encroachment clearance drive. “We are making efforts to sensitise citizens against dumping garbage on roads and in open spaces.

Waste collection vehicles, pourakarmikas and community mobilisers are deployed at doorsteps. Despite this, many continue to litter. Even with CCTV cameras and citizen footage, some dump waste in blind spots.

Hence, we have asked officials to trace offenders using documents found in garbage bags such as parcel covers and receipts,” she said.She added that the drive is currently underway in wards 10 and 11 of HDMC Zone-1, where four cases have been registered and fines totalling Rs 7,000 collected.

“Action will be intensified against repeat offenders, and the initiative will be expanded,” she said.Patil noted that such violations are often seen in posh localities. “While lower-income groups may face segregation issues, they hand over waste honestly to HDMC vehicles. However, some in affluent areas continue this unhealthy practice,” she said. She clarified that the aim is to create awareness rather than penalise or shame people.Shantagouda Biradar, senior health inspector, Zone 1, Dharwad, said citizens often blame HDMC for garbage on streets. “If they cooperate, the city can be kept clean. People should report littering to the HDMC control room,” he said.Welcoming the move, Shivashankar D Aiholi, secretary, Hubballi-Dharwad Ward Samiti Balaga Trust, urged citizens to segregate waste and hand it over to authorised collection vehicles. “If services are irregular, complaints should be filed instead of resorting to indiscriminate dumping,” he said.