Navi Mumbai civic body to take strict action, impose fines against those not following Covid norms

With increasing Covid cases, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has decided to implement penalties more stringently so as to make sure that everyone followed the norms

With increasing Covid cases, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has decided to implement penalties more stringently so as to make sure that everyone followed the norms.

People wait to get vaccinated in Nerul. (Bachchan Kumar/HT photo)

The NMMC chief, Abhijit Bangar, said, “It’s noticed that people have stopped taking the pandemic seriously. In the beginning of the pandemic, we were still unaware about the seriousness of the virus. But now, everyone knows about it. So, not following the norms is not acceptable.”

In order to ensure that marriages are being conducted by following the norms, the civic body has decided to penalise not just the organiser but also the owner of the marriage or banquet hall if rules are flouted.

“Penalising the organiser or the event manager of the marriage was the norm followed usually. Now, we have decided to penalise even the hall owner so that at least he makes sure that the event is organised keeping the safety measures in mind,” Bangar said.

He added that the penalty would be charged anywhere between ₹20,000 and ₹50,000, depending on the norms flouted.

Ever since the pandemic struck, the highest number of positive cases in a day was recorded on August 20 with 477 cases. The numbers had started coming down from November 9 with the cases going below 100. But this month, the cases started seeing a surge with the cases crossing the per day 100 mark on February 18 with 104 cases, which increased to 126 on February 19.

“We have also formed teams at ward level with NMMC officials and police who would be penalising the people flouting norms more stringently,” Bangar added.