Mangaluru: Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) officials on Thursday, seized a truck for dumping construction materials by the riverside. Although other trucks fled the spot, the officials were able to capture their registration plate numbers on their phones.
Environmental engineer Dayanand Poojary, along with a team of MCC officials, had rushed to the spot after they received a credible tip-off that some trucks have been dumping construction materials by the side of the Phalguni river. Apart from construction debris, the officials also found other waste dumped by the river, off the Kulur bridge.
“As soon as we received the tip-off in the morning, we rushed to the spot and seized one truck bearing the registration number KA 19 AB 0064. The seized vehicle is now parked in the MCC building lot and will be released only after the fine is paid and the waste that was dumped is cleared,” said Poojary said.
The owner of the truck that was seized on Thursday is Ajith P of Attavar from Mangaluru. He has to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 as the quantity of waste dumped was small. The fine would have been Rs 25,000 if a larger amount of debris was dumped. Further action will be taken based on the direction of MCC Commissioner Akshy Kumar, Poojary added.
Some of the other trucks that fled the scene bore the numbers: KA 19 C 5437, KA 19 B 5244, and KL 07 L 7400.
For further action, additional details regarding the ownership of the trucks will be obtained from the RTO, he said.
According to the locals, many such trucks come late at night in order to avoid getting caught while dumping waste.
