Baghdad Municipality imposes higher fines for illegal fly-tipping

BAGHDAD — Baghdad Municipality on Monday announced tougher financial penalties for residents who dump waste in unauthorized areas, including a 500,000-dinar fine (about $357) for washing vehicles on public streets.

Municipality spokesperson Uday al-Jandil told the Iraqi News Agency that “Baghdad Municipality imposes fines of up to one million dinars” (about $714) “on anyone who damages public streets or obstructs traffic in any way.” He said that washing vehicles in public or main streets “subjects the vehicle owner to a fine of up to 500,000 dinars,” with details sent to the General Traffic Directorate for collection.

He added that dumping household waste or construction debris in undesignated areas “subjects violators to fines ranging between two million and five million dinars,” equal to $1,428 to $3,571, which also apply to industrial waste and vehicle scrap.

Al-Jandil said that releasing wastewater onto streets, damaging water or sewage networks, or making unauthorized connections also carry fines of up to one million dinars (about $714).

He noted that a large number of fines have already been issued against violators in the capital. Committees and field monitoring teams from municipal departments continue to track violations, he said, explaining that a committee headed by Deputy Mayor Razzaq al-Yaqoubi and several general directors raised the fine amounts to match the scale of widespread infractions.

He added that the municipality currently does not coordinate with security forces to monitor violations through cameras, relying instead on patrols by municipal teams across the city.

Iraq is facing its lowest drinking-water availability in more than eight decades, with UNICEF recently warning on World Children’s Day that the country “faces its most severe water crisis in modern history” as national reserves fall to just 4 billion cubic meters, down from 55 billion in 2019.