Surat: One person was fined almost every minute for not wearing a mask during the past two months when the Diamond city went through the deadly second wave of Covid-19.
Along with the efforts of health officials, the strict actions by cops too contributed towards steep fall in the positive cases, said police officials.
Total 78,508 persons were fined during the two months by the police and a cash fine of Rs 7.85 crore was collected.
For the same period Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) fined 12,689 persons and collected fine of Rs 1.26 crore.In June, as the government announced relaxations in restrictions, police are continuing to penalize those caught without masks to prevent spread of infection again.
“There are relaxations in restrictions but we are ensuring that people follow Covid appropriate behaviour.
Police will enforce the rule strictly,” said city police commissioner Ajay Tomar.
Strict vigil by cops in containment areas deterred people from venturing out unnecessarily.
Police registered cases against those found loitering outside despite being instructed to stay indoors by health officials of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).
“People are already facing several problems such as lockdown-induced unemployment, loss in business and the fine collection drive is adding to their misery.
Wearing a mask is important but it is suffocating as well,” said Akshay Ghoghari, a college student.
“Police initially created awareness about the importance of masks by distributing free masks.
But as the situation worsened we had no option but to be strict,” said a police officer.
Police officials noticed that people started wearing masks as the situation became worse in April and most of those moving on the road were found wearing masks.
The majority of the violators were found in market places where people without masks were present in the crowd.