Bhubaneswar, April 30: The civic body will shortly come up with a detailed plan to reach out to people through mass awareness drives for collection of user fees for solid waste management.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will take into confidence various residents' welfare associations for the success of the user fee collection system.

The designated tax collectors and ward officers will conduct mass awareness campaigns at ward level.

City mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said that various social service organisations and NGOs would be roped in for conducting these outreach activities so that the municipal corporation can approach more people within a short time.

Some residents have alleged that the civic body's pattern of collecting fees for garbage collection has confused them. Vani Vihar resident Jayanta Mahapatra said the civic body was already colling holding tax where the fees for waste management was included. "So, why is this additional tax burden on us?" he asked. Some people also felt that the user fee was a part of the smart city project.

BMC additional commissioner Alok Kar, however, said that the user fee was neither related to holding tax collection nor related to the smart city project.

"According to the Orissa Municipal Act, 1950, the urban local bodies are entitled to collect this tax," said Kar.

Deputy civic commissioner Subhransu Mishra said the BMC was investing more than Rs 40 crore a year for transportation and disposal of solid waste. "The civic body needs money to maintain the cleanliness of the city," he said.

The civic body is planning to undertake outreach activities such as leaflets distribution, advertisements, appeals in newspapers, scrolling in visual media and hoarding across the city to aware people about the need of the user fee collection.