Kharas for clean city

Architect Vistasp Kharas who was beaten up for stopping two men from littering in Bandra is in the news again. Citizen corporator from Colaba, Makrand Narvekar has moved a motion in the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) that Kharas be not only felicitated but also used as a model to promote a new anti-litter campaign, reported Mumbai Mirror (MM) on July 30, 2014. The motion has received support from almost all group leaders in the BMC, notes the newspaper.

Kharas, whose nose was broken, lips bloodied and shoulder bruised when he had questioned two men in a BMW, later identified as Armaan Chaudhary and Rohit Kanuga, for flinging an empty cola can from their car (see "Litterbugs’ road rage,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, July 7, 2014), is happy to lend his identity to the new campaign. He, however, stipulated that this should "be backed with the infrastructure required to keep a city of Bombay’s size clean. The BMC must install dustbins that can’t be stolen and build public toilets and keep them clean.”
Narvekar himself told MM: "It is often observed that the BMC’s clean up marshals fine people littering the streets, but those who chuck stuff from their cars and spit are let away. The BMC must launch a campaign to send across the message that those who litter will be punished and a distinction will not be made whether they are rich or poor.”