Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal says this is to prevent the COVID situation in the city from worsening
BMC personnel from the L ward act against those not wearing masks at Mohammadiya estate. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Fed up of Mumbaikars not adhering to rules, and to avoid the situation worsening in future and thereby delaying the further opening of Mumbai, the municipal commissioner has ordered a mass drive of penalising 20,000 people per day found not wearing masks.
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The drive will go on for at least a month. As of now, on an average, 950 citizens are penalised every day.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been penalising people found not wearing a mask, since the lockdown. It had fined 4,989 citizens from April to September 12, on an average of 12 persons per day. But from September 13, the BMC expanded the scope of action by reducing the fine from Rs 1,000 to Rs 200, and deployed more employees for the purpose. But as people are still not taking to wearing a mask seriously, the mass drive was launched.
Iqbal Singh Chahal, civic chief said, "It is extremely important and vital to wear a mask, but a large number of citizens in Mumbai do not wear them. It can lead to the situation getting difficult in future and thereby delay the further opening up of Mumbai."
In the third week of August, the commissioner had given a target to nine wards of testing at least 1,000 people every day. After that, the average number of tests in the city increased from 7,000 to 12,000 per day.
While the action against not wearing a mask has been stringent in the south and western suburbs, Ghatkopar, Deonar-Govandi and Mulund experienced lenient action. In M east ward comprising Deonar and Mankhurd, only 466 people have been penalised since April. In Ghatkopar 732 citizens were penalised and in Mulund 533 persons were fined.
In C ward comprising Charni Road and Girgaon, 2,024 people were penalised and in R south (Kandivli) 2,402 people were fined. In B ward (Dongri, Sandhurst station area), the team collected fines from 1,902 people.
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