As part of COVID-19 awareness drive, Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jyothsna went on a round of the city on Thursday imposing fines on those who were found not wearing masks and also distributing masks free.
She randomly visited crowded areas such as SVP Circle, Jagat Circle and Supermarket and stopped the people on two-wheelers, four-wheelers and autorickshaws not wearing masks and educated them about the importance of wearing the masks to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
At SVP Circle, Ms. Jyothsna boarded a city bus operated by NEKRTC and found many people commuting without wearing masks. She held the bus conductor responsible for the lapse and imposed fine on him for allowing people without masks to travel on his bus. She also distributed masks to people free. In the Supermarket area, one of the heavily crowded areas in the city, Ms. Jyothsna found most street vendors transacting their businesses without wearing masks.
She distributed masks to all of them and advised them to wear masks and take other precautions against COVID-19.
At Jagat Circle, Kalaburagi City Municipal Corporation Commissioner Snehal Sudhakar Lokhande, Assistant Commissioner of Police Anshu Kumar, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Vinod Kumar and other senior officers joined Ms. Jyothsna in the awareness drive.
As per information provided by the administration later, a fine of ₹ 12,000 was collected from 48 violators in the last two days. The fine amount thus collected thus far in the city rose to ₹ 4.20 lakh.
Speaking to The Hindu in the Supermarket area, Ms. Jyothsna said that COVID-19 was still spreading dangerously, though the reported cases might have come down. None could afford to take the pandemic easy.
“The government alone cannot curb the spread of the pandemic without the active support and participation of the people. Today’s drive is a part of our sustained campaign of spreading awareness among the people on the precautions to be taken against the pandemic. The campaign would continue in the city and also be extended to the rural areas as well,” she said.