Sanitation and hygiene must be prioritised this year

Under the new rules, spitting and littering will attract a penalty. Representational Pic

Spitting, littering, and illegally dumping construction waste in Mumbai will attract fines ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 25,000, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Monday.

The Mumbai civic body notified the Solid Waste (Management and Handling), Cleanliness and Sanitation Bylaws, 2025, introducing fines for various cleanliness-related violations across Mumbai. Under the rules, spitting in public places will attract a penalty of Rs 250, littering Rs 500, failure to segregate wet and dry waste Rs 200, and unauthorised transportation of construction or demolition debris Rs 25,000 per vehicle.

The bylaws specify penalties for 21 types of offences, including public urination and defecation, feeding animals or birds in public places, washing clothes or utensils in public areas, burning waste, dumping construction debris at unauthorised sites, and failure to clean premises or drains.

Let us give sanitation and cleanliness absolute priority this year. We need to begin by ensuring cleanliness in our immediate environment. From our homes to where we live, and our workplaces too, let's ensure that we ourselves are not littering outside. Building society committees take note of cleanliness in the society surroundings, with cautionary communication to members who do not comply with rules.

Building passages and common areas must be sanitary rather than dump yards. Ensure that societies have enough waste bins and storage areas are kept free of rubbish. Those residing must take pride in their premises. We want the familiar spitting, paan stains, which wallpaper our buildings, to become a thing of the past. Finally, waste segregation must be adhered to, but civic authorities need to look at how this waste seems to be mixed once carted away in the dumpster. A clean, sanitary, and healthy Mumbai should be the number one focus.