Shambhu Jaiswal became the first person in Pokhara, and probably in the country, to be fined Rs 5,000 after he was caught dumping garbage at a public place in Gairhapatan. A team led by head of the sanitation branch of Pokhara the metropolis Chudamani Tiwari caught Jaiswal. Executive officer Tilak Poudel made him pay the amount and released him on condition that he won´t repeat the offence.
“We have fined him Rs 5,000 as a first warning after catching him dumping garbage. We will slap stringent punishment according to the law if we catch him again,” Poudel said.
Local Self-governance Act has a provision of slapping a fine of up to Rs 15,000 on a person dumping garbage at public places and it has given the authority of determining the fine amount to the executive officer of teh metropolis.
The Sub-metropolis has started taking action against the offenders to maintain the clean and beautiful image of Pokhara. Tiwari said the move is aimed at stopping the recent practice of dumping garbage at major intersections by bringing it in cycles, motorcycles and cars.
Pokhara has been collecting garbage from homes for the past couple of years to discourage indiscriminate dumping and it has been charging a monthly fee of Rs 7-200 to each household depending on the size of the house. It had generated Rs 3.25 million in the last fiscal through daily collection of 130 tons of garbage.
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