Ludhiana residents paid Rs 40 lakh fine for not wearing masks, spitting in open

Officials say the fine amount was increased on May 29 to discourage violators but that too seems to have no effect

It seems the city’s residents prefer paying fines over following the rules as the Ludhiana Police have collected over Rs 40 lakh from lockdown violators in the past 85 days.

Of this, Rs 37.6 lakh has been collected from those found venturing out without a mask while Rs 2.2 lakh has been collected from residents for spitting in public places.

Officials say the fine amount was increased on May 29 to discourage violators but that too seems to have no effect.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP, headquarters) Akhil Chaudhary says violations continue unabated despite the government’s concentrated efforts at generating awareness. “We have so far issued 10,667 challans for not wearing masks and caught 2,192 people for spitting in the open. Besides, 18 people have been fined for not following social distancing norms and two for violating home quarantine.”

He said the cases against the violators are issued under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

As per the police, most violators are in the age group of 18 to 40. When caught, they make excuses, saying that they forgot to wear the mask or lost their mask while riding the two-wheeler.

Cops also say that those caught spitting in the open are mostly habitual tobacco chewers, who end up putting others’ lives at risk.