The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has tagged itself in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by initiating a drive against shopkeepers and restaurant owners found dumping garbage in the vicinity of their establishments, and offending outlets will have their licenses cancelled.Pressed into action by municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte, officials from the Shop and Establishment department have completed a 10-day survey across the city to check on arrangements made by establishment owners to dispose of garbage generated.Waste receptacles in shops and restaurants were checked to ascertain if they were enough to handle the garbage generated every day, and how such waste was being disposed of.“We have asked shopkeepers to keep a garbage bin in front of their shop and ensure that the area remains clean. It is the shopkeepers’ responsibility to dump the garbage collected at the local garbage collection centre,” said Arvind Gosavi, inspector, Shop and Establishment department.He added, “If the shopkeeper fails to do so, he will invite punishment under Section 39 of the Shop and Establishment Act. Violating this section could result in the licence being revoked, and he may not be able to run the establishment in future.”Gosavi said this is the first such drive on the lines of Modi’s Swachh Bharat campaign. “In the first phase, we will send notices to shopkeepers to create awareness. If they don’t follow the order, then the action will be initiated,” he said.The civic body’s drive hasn’t gone down well with the Federation for Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), which has written to Kunte and BMC officials complaining that the order is “harsh” and “not practical”.Federation president Viren Shah’s letter to Kunte states that “Shopkeers always maintain cleanliness and have placed dustbins in their respective establishments. It is the illegal hawkers who litter footpaths and streets, and if BMC wants to initiate the Swachh Bharat campaign here, they should carry out surprise checks on hawkers.” “Steps to cancel licenses of shop owners for no fault of theirs would be very harsh.Action should be initiated against illegal hawkers and encroachers. If BMC clears the footpaths of illegal hawkers, the problem would solve itself,” Shah added. He said FRTWA members will meet Kunte on Monday to discuss the issue.Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Vikas Kharge said, “We have initiated this drive so that all shop owners and establishments participate in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and also to create awareness amongst shop owners and their customers. Action would result in their licenses being revoked.”