Winter maintains a firm grip on cities throughout Poland and municipal authorities are facing problems with keeping streets and sidewalks free of ice as heavy use of salt is harmful for plants.
City guards in Katowice, southern Poland, are caught in a cat-and-mouse game as they are authorized to hand out 100-zloty fines to private citizens using salt to defrost in front of their homes or businesses, but they are reticent to do so considering the weather conditions.
“This year, the winter is very tough and people are pouring out huge amounts of salt on sidewalks,” says Miroslawa Uzil-Kisinska of Katowice City Guard offices. “We have to catch someone in the act of salting the sidewalk or have a concrete witness in order to hand out fines,” adds the spokesperson, maintaining that it is not only plants that are harmed by large amounts of salt, but so are sidewalks and winter boots.
Ruda Slask and Sosnowiec, two other cities in southern Poland, similarly ban the use of salt to defreeze sidewalks, but have not registered a single fine this winter.
“Salt is terrible for plants and sidewalks. It is better to just shovel snow and sand sidewalks,” says Romuald Smigielski of the Sosnowiec city hall. (mmj)