Following an increase in Covid-19 cases, the Delhi government has begun deploying additional enforcement teams in all 11 income districts to ensure that people follow safety guidelines and impose fines in case of violations. This has led to a 10-fold increase in penalties for violations in some districts, authorities said.
Previously, police officers and officials hired by subdivision magistrates were already enforcing Covid-19 guidelines and penalizing people for not wearing masks or violating social distancing rules.
On Thursday, HT had reported that since June 14, the police alone had sanctioned more than 188,000 people for not wearing masks. Government officials said tax districts penalized about 41,000 people in the same period for violations of the rules.
The additional deployment is part of a strategy for tighter regulations following an announcement by Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier this week in light of an increase in daily reported infections. This week, Delhi has registered an average of 1,621 cases.
On Friday, additional teams of eight to 20 officers were deployed to all districts, depending on the size of the region and population density, a senior government official said.
Each enforcement team will be made up of an executive magistrate and police and revenue staff, an official said, adding that awareness teams have also been formed to encourage people to follow anti-Covid measures.
“There has been a significant increase in fines after the additional deployment. It also suggests that people have started to take things lightly, when they should be more vigilant, ”said an official from the northern district.
Data from the North district on Saturday showed that 1,495 people were penalized in the 24 hours after deployment, compared to the 146 daily penalties recorded in the district between June 1 and June 15, when the Covid-19 situation in the city it was at its peak.
Similarly, data from the central district showed that 2,101 people were penalized for not wearing masks and for violating social distancing rules, compared to 168 penalties recorded per day in the district between June 1 and June 15.
The penalty for not wearing a mask is a fine of Rs 500. Violations of the social distancing guidelines can carry a penalty of up to Rs 1000.
Other districts have yet to collect data and submit reports to the chief secretary’s office, a government official said Saturday.
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