People defecating in open will be fined Rs 50 by BMC

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided that people defecating in the open in the city will be fined Rs 50, officials said today.

This was decided at the BMC's meeting yesterday. The fine will be imposed by the local ward sanitation committee or the self-help groups, they said.

BMC Mayor A N Jena said this step will work as a catalyst to make the city open defecation free (ODF).

Jena also announced that in order to make people aware about the new legislation on collection of penalty, awareness camps will also be organised across the city to keep the city clean.

The corporation also decided to spend Rs 20 crore for water body conservation in seven prominent water bodies under BMC area.

Odia Language, Literature, Culture and Tourism Minister Ashok Chandra Panda, who attended the meeting, asked the corporators to furnish the list of temples in their locality so that Rs 5 lakh per monument would be granted for their upkeep.