Malls open today, MCG assigns crack teams to enforce all rules
THE CIVIC BODY HAS ASSIGNED 80 OF ITS ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS TO KEEP AN EYE ON POSSIBLE VIOLATIONS OF SAFETY PROTOCOLS
GURUGRAM: To ensure that safety measures are being followed in the city malls that are slated to open on Wednesday after a gap of over three months, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has assigned 80 of its enforcement wing officials to keep a look out for possible violations, said officials of the civic body.
The Haryana government on Sunday issued an order, detailing a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the reopening of malls in Gurugram and Faridabad.
As per the order, municipalities have been directed to “monitor compliance by undertaking regular visits” to malls and to ensure that proper sanitisation of the premises is being carried out. The MCG officials have also been given the power to issue challans of ₹500 to visitors for failing to wearing to wear masks, and hand them a set of five masks each.
As per MCG joint commissioner Hariom Attri, the enforcement wing officials in each of MCG’s four zones will be randomly conducting checks at all the malls in their respective jurisdictions and will issue penalties if any violation of the guidelines listed in the SOPs is found.
This is not the first time that the enforcement wing of the MCG has carried out such an exercise.
As per Attri, since April, eight teams, comprising officials of the MCG’s enforcement and sanitation wings, have been keeping a lookout for violations of lockdown norms and the guidelines listed in the SOPs for markets and stand-alone shops.
Attri, however, added that the responsibility for malls has been exclusively assigned to the enforcement wing as its officials have better “technical knowledge” in the matter.
“Monitoring in malls is not limited to violations relating to wearing of masks and social distancing norms. There are numerous other factors that need to be monitored. As officials in the enforcement wing are more familiar with such matters, we have therefore assigned them with this responsibility,” said Attri.
Attri further said that the MCG at present has not put together any specific teams for keeping a check on the malls. Instead, the officials of the enforcement wing engaged in checking violations of SOPs in markets have been directed to keep an eye on the malls in their respective jurisdictions.
“Based on the initial public response to the news of reopening of malls in Delhi, we are expecting a low footfall in the initial few weeks in Gurugram as well. However, if the footfall is higher or sees a gradual increase over the next few weeks, we will allocate more officials for this task,” said Attri.
The MCG held separate meetings with mall associations over the last three days and cautioned them that repeated violations of the SOPs might attract strict penalties.
Aman Bajaj, a member of the MGF Metropolitan Mall association, said, “On both Monday and Tuesday, we have undertaken extensive disinfecting and sanitising operations. Our staff members have been directed to follow the requisite safety measures and also ensure that visitors do the same.”