Facemask violations dip, BMC collects ` 55 cr in 418 days
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has collected fines to the tune of over Rs 55.56 crores in the last 418 days from 27.58 lakh citizens who were caught roaming without facemasks in public places during the pandemic, a civic official said on Monday. The data shared by the civic body on Monday, however, revealed that the number of offenders caught daily has declined drastically, the civic officials have attributed this to the restrictions in movement under 'Break the Chain' rules.
As per the data released by the BMC, as many as 4,314 people were caught without masks on May 4, of which 1,478 were caught by the Mumbai police. And a total fine of Rs 5.67 lakh was collected from these 4314 offenders the data revealed. The number of offenders as of May 23 has declined to 3,282, of these 1,454 were caught by the Mumbai police. And a fine of Rs 6.56 lakh was collected from these 3,282 offenders.
From making masks mandatory to restricting crowds and large gatherings, the BMC has beefed up surveillance and enforcement measures to contain the virus spread. The violation which attracted a Rs 1000 fine until September 12, 2020, was brought down to Rs 200 fine starting September 13, 2020. BMC even offered its staff incentive of 10 per cent of the total fine they collect each day.
The BMC deployed marshals to enforce mask rule in public places. While Mumbai police too have been penalising people not wearing masks in public places. Besides this, there are volunteers at the railway stations who have been watching commuters at all railways stations. According to the BMC data, of the 26,87,339 violators of the mask rule, 23,50,159 were caught by the BMC, 3,13,289 by the police and 23,891 by the railway authorities.
Of the total fine of over Rs. 55.56 crore collected from the violators, Rs. 48,28,80,800 were collected by the BMC, Rs 6,77,01,800, by the police and Rs 50,39,200 by the railway authorities. These fines were collected in 418 days from April 20, 2020, to May 23, 2021.