Pune Administration Cracks Down On Hill Littering: CCTV Cameras And Fines Coming Soon | Sourced
Punekars are getting adventurous and participating in and going on treks on the hills. While they enjoy the scenic beauty, they forget to leave the place as it is and instead leave garbage behind. This spells disaster for the hills and the forest area. Trash bottles, chip wrappers, garbage dumps, used condom packets, and liquor bottles are seen everywhere at Lohegaon Hill.
Kulbhushan More, a business developer in an IT firm, said, “I’m a regular walker on the hill. Every morning I climb the hills along with my wife. And recently on New Year, we saw students from DY Patil school and workers constructing Pride University coming up to the hills with liquor bottles. On the top of the hill, they sat at different locations and consumed the liquor, but while going down they did not take the bottles with them; instead, they broke the bottles or left them there. Many families came to celebrate and they left the food and littered the packaging bags and wrappers. And this is not just a one-day issue; it has become quite normal for them to litter the garbage. For years, we collected the garbage and dumped it in the dustbin placed near the mandir on the hills. This is a social responsibility to keep the hills and areas clean. By doing this little, we can save the hills and the environment.”
According to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) data, starting from January to December 2024, the civic body took action against 561 violators for the burning of waste, and it recovered a fine of Rs 7,69,210. The civic body also took action against 189 people and collected a fine of Rs 78,068 for littering and not keeping their surroundings clean.
Mahadev Mohite, deputy conservator of forests, Pune division, told The Free Press Journal, “We conduct regular patrolling of these areas including hills and forest areas; however, with the limited manpower, it is not possible to keep a 24×7 surveillance. So we are wall-compounding the entire forest areas and eco-sensitive zones. There are only a few hills which do not have compound walls, but we have a team who regularly do the patrolling and takes action against the violators who are involved in antisocial activities on the hills and reserved forest areas. In the coming time, we will be installing CCTV cameras to keep a check on movement in the reserved areas.”
