The media and the general public are calling those agencies who penalize the general public for littering (throwing trash or garbage) in public places “the 21st century footpads and highwaymen”, looting the public in unfair lawful ways in the name of environmental protection.

The crime scene in our societies hasn’t changed much over the past two centuries, except the terminology: there used to be footpads and highwaymen who robbed travellers of their valuables on deserted dark roads in the past, and muggers and thugs mug the footpath users (pedestrians) and stole money and valuables from them, dragging them into the dark allies or by lanes, even at crowded centres, in the present.

It is surprising to notice that the villains and outlaws — footpads, highwaymen, bootleggers, bandits, brigands, muggers — are often made heroes in stories and films, including in those books meant for children, because they rob the rich and feed the poor, but the writers and the readers ignore one simple moral that committing a crime to rectify a crime is not justice; it’s like contracting a new disease to cure an old one!