Mumbai: Each police zone to fine 1,000 maskless people daily
In a bid to intensify the crackdown on people not wearing masks, Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has asked the city police force to collect fines from at least 1,000 violators per day in each zone, an official said on Wednesday. Mumbai is divided into 12 police zones and the city police is authorized to collect a fine of Rs. 200 from maskless people.
'Improve performance of your police stations,' senior inspectors told
"To prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the metropolis, Singh has asked the city police force to take strict action against those not wearing masks in public places as mandated under COVID-19 norms," the official said. "Singh recently asked all senior inspectors to improve the performance of their respective police stations and achieve the zonal target of 1,000 such cases per day," he said.
Idea is to sensitize people about following guidelines
"The Mumbai Police is making efforts to increase the awareness among citizens about containing the spread of COVID-19," city police spokesperson S Chaitanya said. "The idea behind setting the target of 1,000 cases for each zone per day is to sensitize people about following guidelines issued by the government about wearing masks and maintaining physical distance in public places," he said.
50 percent fine to be used for police welfare activities
The official said, "Fifty percent of the fines collected from mask-rule violators will be used for police welfare activities and the remaining amount will be given to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation."
Cases registered against 57,692 people under Section 188 so far
"Since the enforcement of lockdown in March last year, the city police has so far registered cases against 57,692 people under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) for violating various COVID-19 prevention norms," another official said. "Out of these people, 25,947 were arrested and later released on bail," he said.
Mumbai has so far reported 11,476 COVID-19 deaths
"Since April 18, 2020, 10,490 people were penalized for not wearing masks in public places," he added. On Tuesday, Mumbai reported 849 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally to 3,27,619. Mumbai has so far reported 11,476 deaths due to the disease, as per official figures.
