The independence of the county ‘invested’ a large majority of its population with a right and privilege to deface with impunity almost any place anywhere by emitting nasty long streams of spittle.  You can see the imprints of red squirts criss- crossing the city roads, streets, footpaths,  walls of the public buildings, busses, and freshly white washed houses hitting you with a challenge: Do whatever you like.

If you are unaware and unlucky, the nasty mucous stream may land across your beautiful face and clothes from the window of a fast running city bus. You are left grinding your teeth with impotent rage.

Spitting, urinating, defecating, littering, bathing, washing ugly linen and utensils in the open public places have become notorious features of brand India.  There may be some laws on the books, but they are not meant to be enforced like they are in, say, countries like Singapore.

The western countries too have very stringent laws against creating such ugly nuisance on the public places. But these laws are seldom enforced because the public there simply abhors doing such dirty things. It is their ‘sanskar’, a natural habit, not to violate the law, just as it is the sanskar of quite a large majority of us Indians to wallow with pride in violating it.

It appears that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi- MCD- has woken up to the need to curb this impetuous urge in the capital. The corporation proposes to deploy 1,000 inspectors to challan the offenders on the spot with fines ranging from Rs.200 to Rs. 500. The objective is to infuse some aesthetic sense and discipline in those who treat the law with disdain.

"Our objective is to send a strong message across. Though we already had an anti-littering provision under the Delhi Municipal Act (DMC), the implementation process was lengthy. Now the bylaws for the sanitation department have been finalized and the matter will be tabled in the committee meeting soon," MCD standing committee chairman Vijendra Gupta told Hindustan Times. The law will come into force from May this year.

It will also cover hospitals that are unable to segregate bio-degradable wastes. The big question mark, however, is how seriously will the new law be enforced.