Missing mask now attracts ₹1,000 fine, but people still casual
BATHINDA/PATIALA/JALANDHAR: Even as the fine for not wearing a face mask in public places has been raised to ₹1,000, people continue to violate the guidelines issued to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
Residents in Bathinda can be seen giving two hoots to the social distancing and covering their faces in buses and markets. In the vegetable market, buyers and sellers were openly violating the guidelines.
Police authorities said after eight months of the pandemic, people were not adhering to the directives. Officials said they were helpless. Official data says Bathinda police recovered ₹81 lakh in fine from people in the last eight months for not wearing face mask.
However, like other places, at the district administrative complex, a number of police personnel and officials were seen without face masks. However, most visitors to the offices could be seen with covered faces.
According to the official data, 19,524 people were penalised in the district till November 30. A first information report was lodged against 374 individuals for the breach of the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act till Monday.
Similarly, 17,601 people were penalised by the Fazilka district police for violating pandemic guidelines. The police authorities compounded a sum of ₹80.8 lakh by the end of November.
Bathinda SSP BS Virk said the authorities had been initiating punitive action, but the residents are very casual. “Our teams are doing their job but people continue to be casual towards the precautions,” said Virk. Fazilka SSP Harjeet Singh said they plan to restart a drive against the violators. “The drive was suspended briefly during Diwali and it is being relaunched as people have started social gatherings as if everything was normal,” he added.
300 made to pay ₹1,000 fine in Jalandhar
In Jalandhar district, which has the second highest Covid-19 cases in the state, 200 people a day were fined ₹500 each for not wearing mask in November. On Tuesday, the local police intensified the drive and fined around 300 people ₹1,000 for not wearing a mask, besides penalising 18 others for not adhering to social distancing norms.
191 challans a day in Patiala in six months
On average, Patiala police issued around 191 challans a day for not wearing a mask. However, the police were soft when it comes to violation of other Covid-19 guidelines as they issued only 64 challans for violating social distancing norms and 99 for spitting in the last six months.Senior superintendent of police Vikram Jeet Duggal said, “We are regularly keeping an eye on offenders of the guidelines.”