Amid rise in number of cases in Maharashtra, the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC) on Monday has begun fining shopkeepers Rs 1,000 for not wearing masks and keeping hand sanitisers.
Several purported fine receipts are circulating on social media. Earlier, while addressing the state, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray had said that the wearing of masks has become ‘absolutely necessary’.
Earlier in April, Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), made wearing of masks compulsory in public places, hospitals, offices, markets and while travelling in vehicles. Failing to do so may result in offenders getting arrested under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the BMC said in a circular.
A circular, issued by municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, stated that the civic body has decided in public interest to make masks necessary for any person moving in public places. The circular stated that citizens must wear three-ply or cloth mask. The BMC circular read, “Any person moving around in his personal or official vehicle must be wearing masks. No person/ officer will attend any meeting/ gathering, workplace without wearing these masks.”
Maharashtra has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, 9,915. State also tops the tally with 432 fatalities. India’s COVID-19 tally has reached 33,050, including 1,074 deaths.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 23,651, while 8,324 people have recovered and one patient has migrated. The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals, the ministry said. Out of the 66 deaths reported since Wednesday evening, 32 were from Maharashtra, 16 from Gujarat, 10 from Madhya Pradesh, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Tamil Nadu and Delhi, and one from Karnataka.