Mumbai: Despite repeated reminders from authorities, there are still some people who refuse to take Covid-19 protocols seriously. In order to teach violators a lesson, now Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is making people do community service in the form of sweeping roads if they are reluctant to pay Rs 200 as fine for not wearing masks in public places.
So, the next time if you are caught without a face mask in public in Mumbai, get ready to sweep roads if you fail to pay fine to the city civic body.
Meanwhile, the K-West civic ward, which includes areas like Andheri West, Juhu and Versova, has already made several violators sweep roads for an hour to deter people from roaming around without a mask.
Vishwas Mote, the assistant municipal commissioner of K-West ward, told PTI that since the past seven days they have made people do community service in the form of sweeping roads if they unnecessarily argue with officials or refuse to pay fine for not wearing a mask.
According to the officials, this punishment is being handed out as per the BMCs Solid Waste Management Bye-Laws that give the civic body powers to ask citizens to do various community services for spitting on roads.
A civic official said initially most people show reluctance to do community service like sweeping roads, but they fall in line when they are warned about the police action.
“On realising that they made a mistake by not wearing face mask, some people readily agree to do community service,” the official said.
Aiming to control the pandemic, the civic body is continuously spreading awareness among citizens about wearing face masks, maintaining social distance and practising hand hygiene.
(With PTI inputs)