Just nine days after its launch by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) hotline received 53 complaints about burning waste. The G North ward, covering Dadar, Mahim, and Dharavi, had the most complaints, with 10.
The L ward, covering Chandivali, Kurla, Station, and Sakinaka, and H West, covering Bandra West, followed with eight each.
Of the total complaints, 10 are yet to be addressed. However, they were expected to be resolved by Tuesday morning, November 21. The hotline is 8169681697.
According to reports, the difficulty is in catching offenders due to the time gap between the offence and the complaint. It is challenging to locate the offender who burns waste in public. When this occurs, the ward disposes of the trash and files the complaint. But when the garbage is burned in private, the complainant can identify the offender, and then a fine of INR 100 is imposed.
Dharavi, known for burning waste to extract metal, was identified as a major offender. Despite frequent incidents, thirteen wards reported no incidents of garbage burning. In the P North ward, garbage burning has been a consistent issue for the past three to four years, particularly around the Ganesh Nagar slums and Atharva College.
BMC also uses its 1916 helpline, a mobile app, and another platform to register complaints. Before the hotline, all additional garbage-related complaints were directed to the helpline introduced by CM Shinde on June 7. As of November 19, it had received 6,644 complaints about garbage dumping and 1,957 about debris disposal.
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