BMC collects a fine of INR 30.96 crores as fine for not wearing face mask

On Wednesday, February 17, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) revealed that it has collected a fine of total INR 30.69 crores from people who were caught without face masks in public places in the last 10 months.

Despite the state government’s request to wear masks and maintain social distancing norms due to steady rise in the number of cases, the civic body has caught over 15 lakh people since April last year for flouting the rules. Out of these offenders, 13,008 were caught on Monday, February 15 and a fine of INR 26,01,600 was collected from them, a BMC official said.

The BMC has been imposing a fine of INR 200 for not wearing a face mask in public places.

Meanwhile, INR 21 crores was collected between December 1, 2020 and February 15, 2021 alone. From April 1, 2020 to February 15 this year, the BMC caught 15,16,398 people without face masks and collected a total of INR 30,69,09,800 from them, civic officials said.

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. Whereas, the lowest — 25,847 offenders — were found in M-East ward, which comprises Anushakti Nagar, Deonar, Cheetah Camp and Shivaji Nagar.

At present, the M-west ward is reporting highest 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 to a 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.

Concerned over the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday asked citizens to strictly follow government-mandated guidelines on masks and social distancing or be prepared to face another round of lockdown.

Also, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar travelled on a local train from Byculla to CSMT and urged people to wear masks. The mayor also made a surprise visit to a quarantine centre at Santacruz, where four people were missing.