PCMC to fine vendors throwing solid waste

The streets of Pimpri Chinchwad may soon look cleaner with less waste food thrown on them. The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is planning to impose waste collection charges on the unauthorised roadside food stalls, vegetable and fruits hawkers.

Though PCMC was awarded as the Best City in Asia for its cleanliness, of late there were several complaints from the citizens about the unauthorised food stall owners throwing leftovers on streets in all pockets of Pimrpri-Chinchwad. The food stalls selling chinese, bhel, sandwiches, pav bhaji throw the waste either on municipal garbage bins or on the roadside.

Till now the health department of PCMC was charging only hotels and marriage halls for the disposal of their solid waste.

As per the health department record, there are seven five star hotels, three starts hotels, 203 A Type hotels, 131 B type, 381 C Type and 539 D Type hotels. PCMC had been collecting Rs3,000, Rs2,000 and Rs1,000 service tax from A,B and C category hotels for the solid waste it collects from these hotels. However, no charges were being collected from D Type hotels. The civic administration now is planning to now charge the D Types too, and along with them the unauthorised food, vegetable and fruit vendors too.

The PCMC also had been taking garbage collection charges from marriages and shopping malls. There are 49 marriage halls and six shopping malls.

President of PCMC’s Paryavaran Sanvardhan Samiti Vikas Patil said, “PCMC has bagged three national awards, so it needs to be alert about the garbage hips lying on roadsides. There is a need for a permanent solution to tackle the menace. There were hips of garbages found at Nigdi, Dapodi and Sangvi, Spine Road, Moshi, but the health department did not notice it.”

Patil added that the problem has increased and become serious now as the civic administration had no control over such illegal food centres.