It has been almost five months since ward marshals were appointed in the city to prevent public littering, but the piling up of garbage in places other than the designated ones raises questions about how effective the move has been. On its part, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) holds that violations have come down after marshals started patrolling the wards.
The BBMP managed to convince the state government to appoint 232 marshals, to prevent random littering of streets, lakes, Indira canteens, landfills and other public spaces, at a cost of Rs 8.51 crore. Ward marshals were deployed from September, 2019.
Apart from 198 ward marshals who check littering, the BBMP has appointed 174 marshals for Indira Canteens, 16 marshals for Bellandur lake and 50 for the Bellahalli landfill, supervising works and other enforcement related activities.
The marshals were sourced through an MoU with the Karnataka Ex-servicemen Welfare Society (KEWS). Currently there are 198 marshals, one for each ward in the BBMP limits, to monitor littering and dumping.
A marshal’s work description involves penalising the public for violating the plastic ban, littering, urinating in public places and dumping commercial or meat waste.
“The government issued a work order to appoint 232 marshals making one marshal for each ward and 34 more marshals for the back up. We could appoint only 198,” says KEWS Chairman, Col. Rajbeer Singh.
| The KEWS, as per the BBMP’s condition is allowed to appoint ex-servicemen and National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets in a 50:50 ratio. Marshals who are ex-service personnel are paid in a range of about Rs 24,000 a month whereas marshals who are NCC cadets earn up to Rs 18,000 a month. |
The marshals patrol from 5 am to 11 am. At night, they form groups of five for patrolling. However, the scarcity of men has been a challenge.
Says Col Singh: “While the morning patrolling can be easier for marshals as public who attempt to dump garbage shy away, during the night hours it is a challenge as the people who attempt to dump garbage come in large numbers and with a huge amount of garbage to dump. To prevent it, the marshals also have to go in a group.”
The ward marshals have been successful in slapping fines to the tune of Rs 63.42 lakh against violators from September 2019 to January 2020. September 2019 records the highest amount of fine-collection (Rs 14.33 lakh), followed by November (Rs 13.91 lakh).
Garbage marshals collected over Rs 14 lakh in fines last September
Marshals prevented from discharging duty
Marshals on the field say they are not being taken seriously by the public. They point out that they are being prevented from enforcing cleanliness.
For instance, in November 2019, a woman in Kamakshipalya filed a complaint with the police against a marshal for stopping her from dumping garbage in a public place. In another incident, a doctor who was caught red-handed by marshals while dumping waste from his car near Nandidurga Road, filed a complaint against the marshals.
Worse, the police questioned the marshals on the grounds that they were harassing the public. They were made to sit in the police station all day. The marshals were allowed to leave only when higher officials reprimanded the station’s staff.
Besides the public and the police, it is learnt that marshals are having to face attacks from local thugs. In one incident near Harishchandra Ghat in October, a marshal was stabbed by miscreants, revealed BBMP’s Joint Commissioner (SWM) Sarfaraz Khan.
Khan says: “If the police were cooperative, things would have gone better. Locals have been harassing the marshals by taking them to police stations and police have been giving them support. Every time, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) rank officer has had to come into the picture to have the marshals released.”
Henceforth, the BBMP plans to file cases against anyone obstructing marshals in their duties. Khan says, “From now onwards we will be filing complaints against those obstructing government work. Marshals have been given the rights and duty to enforce it and those who harass them will have to face the music.”
A marshal who does not wish to be identified says, “In most areas, the garbage contract is operated by corporators themselves. Those who commit SWM violations are either relatives or close aides of the corporators. If we catch them we will be questioned and there are many instances when the contractors have told us that our existence is only because them. If such political interventions are not there, we can ensure cleanliness of our wards that have been assigned to us.”
The BBMP Commissioner has to issue a stern warning that no corporator shall interfere in the work of Marshalls. In case it’s reported the ward will not have cleaning done abd corporator has to get it done by himself.
BBMP is to blame for this they have no services in the area Sarjapur road, Harlur, Hsr and others they never come to pick up the wastage. Where would people throw the garbage? Not even a single area in the Bangalore have proper drainage, water, garbage collecting facility.
it’s really sad to witness that these marshalls are using a commanding language and in guise of uniform they are behaving arrogantly. beyond that they are shooting videos and taking pictures, is BBMP given this authority to them, they are just suppose to collect the fine. also they are using sarcastic comments, even they are threatening to visit house or office place to collect fine or call police, if this is the case then the time is not far these marshalls will start physical assault on the people who through garbage. and they take control of everything even the judgement, this attitude is not called for, if BBMP want the city to be clean, first they need to teach the decipline to these marshalls. very sad witnessing this behaviour. my question is for BBMP if you are exercising a penalty under a rule, why not the place where people through garbage regularly be completely cordoned and place a board describing a fine? that would help people to get educated and be warned. I had a bitter experience with these two marshalls, very rude attitude and started giving sarcastic comments, one guy was shooting video and taking pics. I request BBMP to release a note to marshalls to teach them how to behave in good attitude with people. don’t the officials of BBMP think this is also important aspect of giving respect to people, even you fine, but they keep showing arrogant behaviour. they should known shooting somebody video without they consent is a crime. as some body rightly said, what about other facilities provided by BBMP , are the roads good?? you need to focus on all not on one and penalize people for garbage.what about corruptions, can you stop it?
I am writing to bring to your attention a deeply distressing incident that occurred this morning involving one of your marshals, which I believe requires immediate investigation and corrective action.
Incident Description:
While visiting my younger brother in Bengaluru (he is a student at Jain University), I was approached by a person in a marshal’s uniform who claimed that I owed a fine of ₹2,500 for improper garbage disposal. At first, I was uncertain whether this was legitimate, as the person had only a handheld card-payment device and wore a uniform I did not recognize.
He began asking intrusive personal questions for example, why I was at the house of guy,where I lived, and whether I have informed the landlord that I stay here . I was taken aback, as these are not appropriate questions in the context of issuing a fine.
The marshal showed me a photograph of the “offending” trash: an open dry-waste garbage bag. He then presented a different image — a parcel receipt in my brother’s name — and asserted that the trash belonged to us. This is completely unclear and unfair: how can it be proven that the waste was ours, when we did not discard it ourselves?
What alarmed me further was his behavior: he raised his voice, threatened to call the police on me, and demanded that I lower my volume, but ‘you raise your voice when the other starts’. As someone not originally from Karnataka, I already feel vulnerable, and his conduct made me feel unsafe especially when he insisted on taking a “selfie” with me. I refused permission, but saw a flash from his phone, suggesting he took the photo secretly.
Additional Concerns:
The garbage collection and fine-issuing process seems poorly organized bins are not clearly separated and should be a particular area to dump when the garbage collection is missed, and collection does not follow a consistent route or schedule.
If penalties are to be imposed on us public the government worker should be there on time too (e.g., from 8:30 AM not 10:30 when the given time was 8:30am?) But often they come much later, which undermines fairness.
The marshal asked me to transfer the fine into his personal bank account this feels highly irregular and unprofessional.
My Request:
I respectfully request an investigation into this incident particularly whether the marshal was authorized, and whether the fine was legitimately imposed.
Please clarify the standard operating procedures for fines and ensure that marshals do not demand personal payment into private accounts.
I urge you to train or re-train marshals on proper professional conduct, especially when engaging with residents or visitors who may not be familiar with the local system.
Consider improving the waste-management infrastructure in the area (e.g., clearer bins, fixed routes, particular dumping area for missed garbage disposal ), so such misunderstandings do not recur.
I trust that your office takes such complaints seriously.