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In J&K, wear mask or shell out hefty penalties
The administration has not been providing mask to people and has now started slapping penalties ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 in case of violations.
Amid spike in Covid-19 deaths and cases across Jammu and Kashmir, the administration on Thursday geared up to “mask the unmasked”. The administration has not been providing mask to people and has now started slapping penalties ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 in case of violations.
Udhampur deputy magistrate Dr Piyush Singla said, “District disaster management Authority has decided to impose fine of Rs 1,000 from those found violating directive of wearing of mask and maintaining social distancing in the jurisdiction of Udhampur district. Municipality, RDD and revenue authorities are empowered to collect the fines.”
“Wearing masks has now been made mandatory in Udhampur! Isn’t it better to spend your money on that book you wanted to read, or that t-shirt you’ve been eyeing online, why do you want to pay fine? Mask hi to pehenna hai! #MaskUp,” tweeted newly-appointed Udahmpur SSP Sargun Shukla.
On Thursday, additional district commissioner law and order of Jammu district, Ghanshyam Singh, took to streets of the capital city with policemen distributing masks and imposing penalties from Rs 100 to Rs 700 on the violators.
“We tried to create awareness among people about indispensability of wearing masks. We even imposed fines on violators and in the coming days we may implement this with more severity,” the ADC said.
He said that fine collected from the violators is being added into the Red Cross Fund. “Social distancing, wearing masks and using sanitisers is mandatory amid the pandemic,” he added.
The number of positive cases in J&K is close to 12,000 with over 4,000 positive cases being reported in the last 15 days.
IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar has also appealed to the public to wear masks. He has sought assistance of Imams to appeal from mosques for this.
Meanwhile, Reasi district commissioner Indu Kanwal Chib said that from July 20, markets in district will open from 11am to 5pm daily and will remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays.”
On Thursday, 31 people, including a tehsildar and manager of a hotel, were tested Covid-19 positive in Rajouri district. They also include four personnel from ITBP-4, six from JKP, two from IRP, four from BSF, three from health department.
