Come September 5, people dumping garbage beyond a stipulated time might end up paying Rs 1,000 as fine.

In an effort to make the city cleaner, the civic body has decided to impose the fine on those who dispose of trash between 9am and 8pm. Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has planned to go on an awareness drive before imposing the penalty.

PMC commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal was not available for comment but the officer on special duty at the commissioner’s office, Shailesh Chandra Diwakar, said: “Repeated warnings have failed to bring about any substantial change in the attitude of people towards dumping garbage. So, imposing penalty seems to be the only alternative.”

He said: “Our objective is not to make money, but to invoke a sense of responsibility among citizens so that they keep the city clean.”

Citizens are being asked to dispose of the garbage from home, apartment, commercial establishment and other institutions within the stipulated time at primary waste collection centres in colonies and at secondary waste collection centres on main roads.

“Primary waste collection centres are on arterial roads and colonies. Thousands of them are there in the town and garbage is collected from these points by hand-held waste collection carts. There are 920 secondary waste collection centres on major roads where garbage is either dumped after gathering them from primary garbage collection points or is directly dumped by residents. The waste is collected in big vehicles from these points. We are requesting people to dump garbage only during the stipulated time period at the fixed points,” Diwakar said.

If sanitary inspectors or senior supervising authorities catch anybody violating the order, challans would be issued on the spot.

Residents welcomed the new step but expressed doubts over its sustainability. “PMC paints a very poor picture when it comes to providing quality civic services. Let us hope there is some seriousness in this new initiative,” said Suneel Kumar, a resident of Patliputra Colony.

Even before the launch of the new drive, uncertainty looms over its successful implementation. There is no fixed system on which the drive is expected to work. PMC, which is already grappling with acute shortage of manpower, is not hiring anybody to keep a vigil on the violators.