Over the past 10 months, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has collected Rs 30.69 crore in fines from people who were caught without face masks in public places. Of this, Rs 21 crore was collected between December 1, 2020 and February 15, 2021 alone.
The BMC has fined more than 15 lakh people since April. Of these, 13,008 were caught on Monday and a fine of Rs 26,01,600 was collected from them. The BMC has been imposing a fine of Rs 200 for not wearing a mask in public places.
From April 8 to February 15 this year, the BMC caught 15,16,398 people for not wearing face masks and collected Rs 30,69,09,800 from them. According to BMC data, the most offenders — 1,08,069 people — were caught in the K-West ward, which includes Andheri (West) and Versova and Juhu beach. The fewest — 25,847 offenders — were found in M-East ward, which comprises Anushakti Nagar, Deonar, Cheetah Camp and Shivaji Nagar.
Concerned over the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday asked residents to strictly follow government-mandated guidelines on masks and social distancing or prepare for another round of lockdowns.
“At present, the M-west ward is reporting the highest number of daily cases, which is a matter of concern, and there are chances that we might have to impose local lockdown measures,” said a notice issued on February 15 to society in the M-West ward.
In the notice, the civic body also instructed housing societies to restrict the entry of outsiders to a minimum, including domestic helps and milk delivery persons.
It asked housing societies to take measures like thermal screening, and if a positive case is found, then that person’s family members should follow strict quarantine guidelines for 14 days and get tested.
