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Civic officials, police clash in Kalyan, video goes viral
In a perfect example of lack of co-ordination between two authorities, several residents caught without wearing mask were made to wait for more than an hour to pay
In a perfect example of lack of co-ordination between two authorities, several residents caught without wearing mask were made to wait for more than an hour to pay fine in Kalyan on Thursday morning.
The police officials who caught them did not have the receipt book and claimed that the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) officials who were supposed to reach the spot at 10 am reached only at 11.45 am.
This led to an argument between the police and KDMC, which was caught on video by passers-by.
The police and the civic officials had carried out a joint operation against people not wearing masks in Kalyan and Dombivli.
On Thursday morning, a team from Bazarpeth police reached Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk in Kalyan for the joint operation at 10am. “Yashwant Chavan, senior police inspector of Bazarpeth police station, and his team members started catching the violators. But, as the KDMC officials had the receipt books and the authority to impose fine, they could not fine the people. Those caught for not wearing mask were asked to wait along with our team till 11:45 am, after which the KDMC officials reached the spot and started taking the fine,” said an official from Bazarpeth who was at the spot.
A KDMC official reached the spot at 11.00 am but he didn’t have the receipt book. At 11:45 am, when Bhagaji Bhangare, ward officer, C Ward, KDMC, reached the spot, the police officers at the spot got into an argument with him as to why they took so long to get the receipt book.
In the video that went viral, the police are heard saying, “This is not the way to work, if you are not interested, then do not force us to take action. Ensure the next time you are on time.”
Yashwant Chavan, senior police inspector, Bazarpeth police station, did not comment on the issue and said, “Such things keep happening in the department and we should not take it seriously. Our main priority is to take action against the violators and not let small arguments come in the way.”
Bhagaji Bhangare, ward officer, C ward, KDMC, denied there was any delay and informed the KDMC has collected almost ₹1 lakh fine till date.
“On Thursday, we had assigned three teams to the police to fine people without mask. Two teams were stationed with Bazarpeth police, while one was with Mahatma Phule police. The Mahatma Phule police are also fining people travelling without mask on motorcycles and vehicles.”
