KOLKATA: Next time you litter the road or dump garbage at a public place, be prepared to shell out a fortune. The state assembly on Thursday passed a bill that proposes to slap a fine of minimum Rs 5,000 and maximum Rs 1 lakh on the offenders. Earlier, the penalty amount ranged from Rs 50 to Rs 5,000.The move comes a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee formed an 11-member committee — headed by chief secretary Moloy De — and tasked it with suggesting stricter measures to check spitting and littering at public places. The West Bengal Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting and Protection of Health of Non-Smokers and Minors Act, 2001, which has been in force in Bengal since 2003, has a penalty clause but prosecutions under it are rare.Time and again, Banerjee has expressed her displeasure over malpractices that derails the city’s cleanliness and beautification drives. The swanky Dakshineswar skywalk was littered with spits the day it was thrown open to public. The district administration now proposes to slap a fine of Rs 1,001 on anyone caught spitting in the skywalk.On Thursday, Section 338 of the Kolkata Muncipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018, was amended to hike fines substantially. The earlier law stipulated that anyone depositing or throwing waste will be “punishable with fine which shall not be less than Rs 50 and more than Rs 5,000 for each such offence.” The amended bill now says the fine “shall not be less than Rs 5,000 and more than Rs 1 lakh.” The state feels that the hike in penalty will now act as a deterrent. Prosecution under KMC rules is adjudicated by the municipal courts.“It is often seen that household trash is thrown on the road or public spaces and left to be cleared by KMC sweepers. This not only makes roads dirty but poses a health threat. Even during any social event or function, there is a tendency to dump all the trash in a public space. There has to be some accountability,” a senior KMC official said.“This clause specifically covers solid waste, which, in most cases is plastic wrapped,” he added. KMC has already kicked off an awareness drive by putting up posters at KMC markets and other prominent places.Likewise, the decade-anda-half-year-old anti-spitting law is likely to see a hiked penalty. According to sources, this anti-spitting and smoking law enacted in 2003 has several loopholes.Under this act, smoking and spitting in workplaces and public vehicles is a crime. It also puts the onus on owners and managers of “every place of public work” to put up display boards, stating, “smoking and spitting in place of public work or use is an offence”. An offence for the first time attracts a fine of Rs 1,000 and in case of the second offence, the law penalises the offender with “not less than Rs 2,000 but which may extend to Rs 5,000”. “This is hardly a deterrent,” a senior official said.