Covid-19: 46 lakh maskless penalised & Rs 92 crore fine collected in 2 years in Mumbai

Mumbai: Data on the face mask mandate for Mumbaikars, imposed in April 2020 and lifted this past Saturday, shows close to 46 lakh people were penalised and Rs 92 crore was collected as fines for flouting it.

During the peak of the pandemic, the BMC chief, in a circular, had stated: "It has been observed in some studies that wearing a facial mask can reduce the spread of coronavirus substantially to persons coming in close contact with each other apart from compulsory social distancing measures."

In the first wave, when there were not enough marshals available to impose fines, the BMC had given some of its own staffers the authority letter to penalise people for flouting the rule. Most, though, had been reluctant and said they could not handle their existing workload itself and would be unable to go around collecting penalties from the maskless. Some corporators said the penalty was much needed during the initial days to inculcate the habit of wearing a mask, especially before the vaccines were introduced.

Bandra's former corporator Asif Zakaria said the BMC cannot continue "this policing" though. "This policing was fine up to a point, so as to inculcate the mask habit in people as research had shown that masks can slow the spread of the coronavirus. However, now two years later, many of us still prefer to wear the mask when we move out of our homes and the habit has been formed, so it's good that the mandate is done away with. Probably, if there was no fear of a fine, many would have chosen not to wear the face mask, which could have been a threat, especially during the peak of the pandemic when there was a tremendous load on hospital beds," said Zakaria.

Another former corporator, Sandeep Patel from Goregaon, said people should act responsibly. "Covid-appropriate behaviour is the only way ahead. Sanitisation is still the way to go. I still put on my mask when I meet people in my party office," said Patel. Deputy municipal commissioner Sangeeta Hasnale, in charge of the solid waste management department, said, "As Mumbai is a crowded city, maintaining a six-metre distance each time was not possible. Therefore, the mask mandate played a huge role in controlling Covid."