Bengaluru: Cases of safety violations up 169%

BENGALURU: With the city unlocking, violations of Covid-19 safety protocols are increasing. BBMP marshals have recorded a 169 per cent increase in cases in the past six days compared to the preceding six-day period.
Between July 1 and 6, they registered 5,688 cases against people who failed to wear a mask or follow social distancing, and collected Rs 14.2 lakh in fines. The figures of the June 25-30 period were 2,109 and nearly Rs 5.3 lakh.
The highest number of violations were recorded on Tuesday: in west zone, 225, east zone 222, and south zone
193. Since the pandemic began, BBMP has detected more than 4.9 lakh violations and sealed 183 outlets for violating Covid norms. The Bengaluru police are also separately registering cases.
Recently, 54 joint teams, each comprising four marshals and one home guard or a police constable, were formed, and they work in two shifts, 6am-2pm and 2pm-10pm. City areas have been categorised under 27 divisions, and two teams are deployed in each division.
A marshal said that the actual number of violations were much higher, but enforcement had come down. Considering the economic distress, BBMP is focusing more on creating awareness and distributing masks to residents in low-income areas and migrant workers.
“In areas where labourers and families with low income live, we are distributing masks and warning them instead of imposing a fine straightaway. In other areas, we are penalising people while also giving masks,” said Col Rajbir Singh, chief marshal officer, BBMP. “We will run this campaign for another week. Later, there will be strict enforcement.”