BMC Collects Rs 30,50,00,000 As Fine For Not Wearing Masks In Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has collected Rs 30,96,21,200 in fine for not wearing a mask at public places in Mumbai from April 2020 to date during the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Wednesday. Recently, the financial capital has witnessed a spike in coronavirus cases.

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Most offenders from Juhu, Andheri

From April 1, 2020 to February 15 this year, the BMC has caught 15,16,398 people without masks and collected Rs 30,69,09,800 as a fine from them, civic officials said. The highest number of 1,08,069 people were caught without face masks in Mumbai's K-West ward, which includes areas like Juhu, Andheri (West) and Versova, according to the BMC data. Out of these offenders, 13,008 were caught on Monday and a fine of Rs 26,01,600 was collected from them, a BMC official said. The BMC has been imposing a fine of Rs 200 for not wearing a face mask in public places.

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Measures adopted by BMC

The development comes days after BMC commissioner IS Chahal announced stringent measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in Mumbai. He has also issued a directive of catching 25,000 offenders every day and also doubled the number of marshals to fine people for not wearing a mask.

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From Tuesday, the BMC started releasing consolidated data of fines collected by different agencies like Mumbai Police and central and western railways. The Central and Western railways, which run the suburban railway network, has collected Rs Rs 91,800 as fine so far. According to BMC data, the civic body is fining around 13,000 people and collecting over Rs 25 lakh on an average daily.

Either pay or do community service

BMC officials said they also asked some offenders who didn't have the money to pay the penalty to do community services like sweeping the street. Last week, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a fresh state of restrictions in view of the rising Covid-19 cases. Thackeray also said that the state government would review the situation in the next eight days to decide whether a lockdown should be imposed.

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Also, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar today travelled on a local train from Byculla to CSMT and urged people to wear masks. "After Railway services resumed, COVID-19 cases spiked not just in Mumbai but in the entire state. Lockdown won't be implemented, but the situation is worrisome", she said.