Authorities impose fines on visitors to Sinhagad fort not wearing masks

PUNE The state forest department has put in place restrictions like compulsory wearing of masks, no movement of people in large groups and restricting the number

PUNE The state forest department has put in place restrictions like compulsory wearing of masks, no movement of people in large groups and restricting the number of cars visiting Sinhagad fort.

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The popular historic site has been seeing a heavy rush of tourists from all corners of Pune and the surrounding regions on weekends and on other days of the week as well.

According to the forest department, as many as 6,000 people had visited fort on Sunday.

This is after the state government allowed access to the fort after nine months of lockdown.

Deepak Pawar, range forest officer, Haveli division, said, “We will be taking strict action against those found not wearing masks and moving in large groups. We will ensure that social distancing norms are followed and cars visiting the spot are restricted. All this is being done to avoid overcrowding and to ensure that Covid-19 norms are followed. Currently, we have deployed 33 staff to oversee all the checkpoints, entries and exits at the fort.”

Scores of tourists visiting Sinhagad fort were seen flouting Covid-19 norms. Neither vendors nor tourists, including children, were seen wearing face masks when HT conducted an on-site inspection on the weekend.

Located 30km from Pune, Sinhgad fort attracts thousands of visitors regularly and is a big draw during the monsoon and winter seasons.

Following incidents of landslides and poor road conditions, the forest department had in 2018 closed the final two-km stretch leading to the fort.

That access road is now open.