West Bengal imposes Rs 100 fine for spitting, Rs 200 for public urination

West Bengal will start fining people for spitting on roads and littering in public places from Tuesday, as the BJP government steps up its cleanliness drive across cities in the state. Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Pal said the move was meant to change public behaviour and not to raise revenue.

Under the enforcement drive, anyone caught spitting in public will be fined Rs 100. Dumping garbage or spreading filth in public places will attract a penalty of Rs 200. Open defecation or urination in public will also invite a Rs 200 fine, and so will the use of single-use plastic carry bags below 125 microns. At the same time, the government has said civic infrastructure is still being put in place.

The initiative comes despite existing legal provisions against littering and public spitting, which officials and civic authorities have often struggled to enforce effectively. Pal said the fines were deliberately kept low and should not be seen as a money-making exercise.

"Rather than imposing strictness to collect money through fines, our objective is to make people aware. We do not intend to take money from people by imposing fines," she told reporters on Tuesday.

"We want Kolkata and other cities of our state to become beautiful," she said.

The minister said penalties alone would not be enough to keep cities clean and stressed that public participation was essential. "It is not possible for the government alone to keep a city clean. Unless it comes from people's hearts, this cannot be achieved by a whip, a stick or fines," Pal said.

She urged people to feel a sense of ownership towards the places where they live. "People have to feel that this city also belongs to them," she said, adding that the department wanted to create that feeling.

Pal said awareness could not be built through a few campaigns in a year. "Ten programmes in a year will not bring awareness. The feeling has to come that this is my city, this is my state, and I will not make it dirty. That is what we want. We hope to see a difference over the next year," she said.

Making a direct appeal to commuters, she said, "Before opening the car window and throwing out a packet, before spitting from a bus, please think once."

Pal also said the government was not yet fully ready for stricter enforcement. Dustbins are being installed at different locations, especially in markets and near railway stations, and steps are being taken to increase the number of public toilets.

"We know that we are not fully prepared yet. We are arranging for dustbins and have already directed that toilets be constructed at different places. The process has started," she said.

"From today, fines are beginning, but our work of providing dustbins and building toilets is also continuing," she added.

The department is also encouraging plastic product manufacturers to shift from banned varieties to permitted alternatives. To provide substitutes for plastic carry bags, vending machines are being arranged in market areas.

Pal said two kinds of machines would be made available. One would dispense corn-based bags at Rs 1 each, while the other would provide cloth bags priced between Rs 5 and Rs 10.

"We are sending vending machines to different places or providing funds and facilitating contacts. Orders can also be placed directly. It will take some time because there are a large number of markets across the state," she said.

The minister said dustbins would not be placed inside residential areas. Instead, households would be encouraged to separate waste into two types of bags and hand it over to sanitation workers.

The drive also brings back attention to provisions that have existed in the state for several years. Under the amended municipal law of 2019, spitting in public could attract a fine of up to Rs 1,000. In Kolkata, illegal dumping of waste carried fines ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 5,000.

Even with these provisions, effective implementation has remained a challenge. The BJP government did not clarify whether it would amend these laws.

With fines now in force, the implementation of the drive will be watched closely in the coming days. For daily commuters, it could affect routine acts such as throwing a plastic packet from a car window, spitting from a bus or dumping waste beside a busy market, while the government continues work on dustbins, toilets and alternatives to plastic bags.