Agra Finally Wakes Up To Its Pollution Woes, Announces Jail For People Burning Garbage

Agra, the land of Taj Mahal is not only a popular tourist hub, but is also infamous for soaring level of air pollution, making it among the top polluted cities of the world. The particulate matter is caused primarily by the practice of burning scrap tyres to extract iron and industrial waste.

Despite several warnings by the Supreme Court to keep a check on incessant garbage burning practice, there are hardly any concrete steps taken to tackle pollution.

Finally, cracking down on individuals and organisations burning solid waste, the Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) has collected Rs 18,000 as penalty in just a couple of days.

AgraLeaks

Besides, notices have been served to a dozen property owners and institutions. FIRs will also be registered against the polluters.

To control burning of solid waste which causes heavy air pollution in Agra, police along with district civic body had recently launched a campaign against it. The aim of the campaign is to make people aware about the hazards of burning solid waste but also registering police case against individuals and organisations burning waste in open. A decision has been taken to impose Rs 25,000 penalty on bulk polluters.

Reuters

The civic body has swung into action following orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to take steps to curb rising air pollution in the eco-sensitive Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

In case a person is caught burning garbage, a spot penalty of Rs 5,000 will be imposed A penalty of Rs 25,000 will be recovered for bulk waste burning on public or private space. Now, we will also be filing FIRs against those who fail to pay the penalty, resulting in imprisonment of the offender.