Covid violations across Tamil Nadu up by 97%, Chennai better

CHENNAI: The face mask violations in the Tamil Nadu increased by 97% on Friday as against Thursday, while the lockdown violators increased by 77% in Tamil Nadu, say police officials, pointing at the number of cases registered. The total fine collected for face mask violation till now is Rs 70.5 lakh.
As per state police statistics, 10,852 cases were booked for not wearing face masks properly on Thursday. The number reached 21,353 on Friday. Further, for moving around beyond permitted timings, police booked 13,677 cases on Thursday in the state including Chennai, while it was 24,201 cases on Friday. There is also a steep increase in the fine amount collected as the fine amount for violation has been increased on Friday, sources said.
In Chennai, as police started getting stricter and also began impounding vehicles of motorists found violating lockdown norms, the numbers were lower. The number of cases booked for not wearing masks came down from 2,162 on Thursday to 1,346 on Friday. Similarly, the number of people booked for not maintaining physical distancing also reduced from 130 on Thursday to 83 on Friday. In contrast other parts of the state showed an increase from 533 to 1,419.
Meanwhile, the Chennai police on Saturday started using drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) to check lockdown violations in the city. All deputy commissioners will be monitoring the visuals provided by the drones and advise field staff of possible steps to control violations. This is expected to avoid ground-level conflict between police and violators.