No MASK, Officials Will Take You to TASK! MCC Slaps Fine on People Not Wearing Masks
Mangaluru: Do not head out of your homes without wearing a mask as the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Officials along with City Traffic Police have launched a joint operation to impose fines on people for not wearing masks. The spiralling COVID-19 cases and lack of safety sense among residents have forced authorities to take this step. A fine of Rs. 200 is being levied in city areas if anyone is caught not wearing masks. Meanwhile, recently the Kerala government made preventive measures more stringent by bringing wearing of masks mandatory for a year under the law. According to the new regulations in Kerala, offenders can attract a fine of up to Rs.10,000 and a jail term of two years. In Kudla, however, the rules are not so stringent.
The joint operation began a few days back and now the teams have intensified it. A team of health officials led by MCC commissioner Akshy Sridhar, MCC Mayor Diwakar Pandeshwar, MCC Health Officer Dr Manjayya Shetty, among others, slapped fines on violators not wearing masks on Wednesday, 30 September, since morning and will go on till evening. Apart from two-wheelers and four-wheeler violators, even shopkeepers were booked. Also, teams are visiting markets to check if the vendors and shoppers are wearing a mask. As of 5 pm, nearly rs 7000 has been collected from fines for not wearing masks and not following social distancing.
Even after repeated warnings from the DC, MCC Commissioner and MCC Mayor, people have been ignoring such warnings, and have been flouting the COVID-19 rules and regulations, like not wearing face masks and not following social distancing. The sad part is that even after even after there has been a spike of Covid-19 cases daily and also few deaths daily in DK/Mangaluru, people have still not taken the pandemic seriously, instead have been flouting the coronavirus guidelines. MCC Commissioner Akshy Sridhar said that this drive was not aimed at collecting money through fines, but to bring awareness among the public due to the spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths in DK/Mangaluru, and therefore people should not move around in the public with no masks and follow social distancing.
As warned by the Mayor during the recent councillors meeting, that MCC will take action and fine people for not wearing face masks, MCC officials with the help of City Traffic police have been cracking down on pedestrians and motorists, especially two-wheeler riders. This action was taken following widespread complaints from the public on social media and calls made to MCC. While doing the check, it was clarified that face masks are necessary only when there are two or more people in a car. Like always, trying to give reasons when caught by officials conducting checks on motorists for mask-rule compliance, there have been allegations that action against people is often arbitrary since there is no clarity on the rule.
This action by MCC also comes after Dakshina Kannada District Deputy Commissioner Dr Rajendra K V, clarified that wearing of masks is also mandatory for people employed in hotels, restaurants, commercial complexes, malls, shops and also those visiting them to wear masks. Social distancing norms must be maintained at any cost. It is the responsibility of shop owners to strictly enforce social distance and other rules. They need to take all precautions to make sure that rules are not violated,” had said DC.
He said that the Mangaluru city commissioner, and chief officers of local bodies, should appoint a nodal officer in their jurisdictions to ensure that COVID rules are followed without fail and the district administration should be kept posted. He also warned that people not wearing a mask in the public will be fined, and therefore they should follow the Covid-19 guidelines. The DC had also said that in case of shops which are found violating rules relating to wearing of masks, social distancing etc they will be fined Rs 1,000 for the first offence, and the fine will go up to Rs 2,000 and 3,000 for second and third violations for which warning will be issued. Any business having more than three violations, their licences would be cancelled.
