No masks: Nearly 23k people fined Rs 45 lakh in 1 day in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Despite several appeals to Mumbaikars to wear a mask in public places, the number of violators and the fine collected surged in one day.

On Monday, the police, BMC, Western Railway and Central Railway collected nearly Rs 45 lakh in fines from 22,976 ‘mask-less’ people. On Sunday, 14,100 people were fined a total of Rs 28 lakh, and on Saturday, Rs 32 lakh was collected from 16,154 offenders.

Over the weekend, the BMC alone collected Rs 60 lakh in fines. Since March 2020, over 15 lakh ‘mask-less’ Mumbaikars have been caught and Rs 30.5 crore collected in fines, so far. Civic officials said they also make violators perform community services, like sweeping the road, if they can’t pay the penalty.

With the rise in Covid-19 cases in the city and several citizens lowering their guard, the BMC has once again intensified its drive to impose a fine of Rs 200 on those caught not wearing a mask. From Monday, even the police started issuing challans to those not wearing masks. Now, Mumbai Metro One, which operates the 12-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor, will also start imposing a Rs 200 penalty on commuters found without masks. “Any commuter found flouting mask norms is first counselled. If the commuter still refuses to fall in line and doesn’t wear a mask, then they are fined under Section 59 of the Metro Railways Operations and Maintenance Act,” said a Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd official.

(Inputs: Manthan K Mehta)