Rs 1,500 collected as fine for pet poops on promenade

Mumbai:The civic body has started collecting fine from people whose pets poop on the iconic Marine Drive promenade and they failed to clean it.

Till now a total of Rs 1,500 as fine has been collected from pet owners.

In a bid to keep the promenade in South Mumbai neat and spotless, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has asked its clean-up marshals to keep a watch on people walking on the stretch with their pets.

In case pets poop on the promenade, their owners are asked to clean the excrement, and if they failed to do so, a fine of Rs 500 is imposed on them, an official said today.

“Currently in three municipal wards A, B and C, BMC has asked agencies providing clean-up marshals to deploy them along the 3.5km promenade from 7 am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm and to levy fine from people whose pets are found defacing the area,” said a senior BMC officer.

“We have started imposing fine from last Saturday. So far five such cases have been reported in B and C wards, but no fine was imposed and offenders were only asked to lift the dog poop.

“However, in A ward three such cases were reported and a total of Rs 1,500 (Rs 500 in each case) was recovered by the marshals,” he added.

The initiative was launched after some local residents complained to the civic body about pet poop lying on the promenade, making it difficult for them to jog on the stretch which is popular with morning and evening walkers, he said.

Clean-up marshals were introduced last year to keep a vigil on citizens who litter public places. But their services were scrapped after reports that they extorted money and harassed people.

PTI