COVID-19 In Mumbai: BMC's Mask Force Sweats To Meet Target

Clean-up marshals in action on Worli sea face. BMC officials have also been deployed for the job. Pic/Ashish Raje

Disciplining the maskless is turning out to be a tough task for BMC's clean-up marshals. The civic body's mask force is able to achieve about 55 to 60 per cent of its target of penalising 24,000 violators a day, said officials.

The BMC collected Rs 26.47 lakh from 13,235 people who had ventured out without the protective gear against coronavirus on Thursday, taking the total number of such errant persons to 8.33 lakh since the pandemic broke out in March. The corporation has so far got fines over '17 crore from people without masks, including Rs 8 crore in the past one month.

While the city has not recorded any wild fluctuations in COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks, officials say the emergence of a new fast-spreading strain in the UK has prompted them to keep a tight watch over the developments. On Friday, the city reported 596 fresh infections, taking the overall figures so far to 2.89 lakh. The virus also killed 11 people during the day.

Despite being on the wrong, civic officials said, violators of the mask rule are often hostile towards the clean-up marshals. A senior BMC official told mid-day, "Our clean-up marshals are regularly on the field, but they are also harassed by citizens, some are even beaten. It is important for the citizens to cooperate with us and wear a mask before stepping out of their homes."

K West ward that covers pockets of Andheri, Jogeshwari and Vile Parle West has recorded the most number of violations - 55,232 cases. It is followed by L ward, mostly Kurla, at 48,450 cases and K East - few parts of Andheri, Vile Parle and Jogeshwari East - with 48,366 cases. The S ward that includes areas of Bhandup collected fines from 47,180 people, while F South, which comprises areas in Parel and Lalbaug, penalised 41,693 violators.

The BMC went into an overdrive to discipline the public from September after civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal reduced the fine to '200 from '1,000 and asked his team to take stringent action against those roaming without masks in public places like roads, markets and gardens. The monitoring has become more rigorous since November.

Apart from clean-up marshals, civic officials have been deployed across Mumbai keeping in mind a growing number of people are likely to step out for shopping ahead of the New Year. On its part, the state government has also imposed a night curfew between 11 pm and 6 am to check any sudden spurt in infections.

The aggressive approach has resulted in the fine amount jumping from '9.28 crore between March and November 25 to '17 crore in the past 30 days. While the BMC has ramped up testing, a nearly three-fold increase, in the past few days, officials say a mask is the best bet against the contagious coronavirus. Even if a vaccine arrives, people will need a mask for a long time, say experts. The civic body has also begun preparations for a massive vaccine delivery programme and has been training health workers in inoculation.

Fine collection so far
Ward Amount (R)
K West 1.14 cr
L 0.985 cr
K East 0.981 cr
S Ward 0.94 cr
F South 0.83 cr