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Agra Police Arrests 109 Miscreants For Public Urination

Agra Police Arrests 109 Miscreants For Public Urination
An Indian man urinates on a wall in New Delhi on November 18, 2014, the eve of World Toilet Day. UNICEF estimates that almost 594 million -- or nearly 50 percent of India's population -- defecate in the open, with the situation acute in dirt-poor rural areas. Some 300 million women and girls are forced to squat outside normally under the cover of darkness, exposed not only to the risks of disease and bacterial infection, but also harassment and assault by men. AFP PHOTO/Chandan KHANNA (Photo credit should read Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)
CHANDAN KHANNA via Getty Images
An Indian man urinates on a wall in New Delhi on November 18, 2014, the eve of World Toilet Day. UNICEF estimates that almost 594 million -- or nearly 50 percent of India's population -- defecate in the open, with the situation acute in dirt-poor rural areas. Some 300 million women and girls are forced to squat outside normally under the cover of darkness, exposed not only to the risks of disease and bacterial infection, but also harassment and assault by men. AFP PHOTO/Chandan KHANNA (Photo credit should read Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

In an unprecedented intervention for sanitation, the Agra police arrested 109 people who were urinating at railway stations, and sent them to jail for 24 hours. They were also fined up to Rs500 for creating a public nuisance by urinating, consuming alcohol and spitting.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) of Agra conducted a cleanliness drive for 48 hours across 12 stations in the Agra division, The Times of India reported. This initiative was taken by GRP's senior superintendent of police, Gopeshnath Khanna, who is reportedly sick of the urine stink and the red paan stains covering railway property.

“People are generally habitual of spreading filth around the railway premises. The area which should be maintained clean, most of it is being subjected to all kind of filth. We did a drive and caught people who were urinating around the premise," Khanna said.

"The message behind such a drive is to convey people, that enough is enough. For more than six decades, our adamant social behavior has not changed. This city hosts millions of tourist every year, we just can't be negligent and irresponsible when comes to showing etiquettes in public fora," he said.

Agra (UP): 109 persons sent to jail for urinating in public places, earlier today. pic.twitter.com/O0wvaRtfUN

— ANI (@ANI_news) June 27, 2015

Khanna said this drive was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative of 'Swachh Bharat' campaign and the offenders were charged under Section 34 of the Police Act (Punishment for certain offences such as inconvenience, annoyance to passengers or residents in public places, roads, etc)."

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