Pune rural police collect ₹9.20 crore in fines from Covid violators in 12 mths

OUNE The Pune rural police claim to have recovered ₹9

OUNE The Pune rural police claim to have recovered ₹9.20 crore in fines from 0.270 million violators of Covid norms over a period of 12 months, dating back to June 2020.

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Fines levied by the Lonavala police station were the highest, followed by Indapur and Baramati police stations.

Citizens were fined for spitting in public, violating social distancing norms and not wearing face masks in public.

Superintendent of police, Pune Rural, Abhinav Deshmukh said, “The fine collection took place across the district and it has been on ever since the lockdown was enforced, as per directions of the government.”

Rural Police have currently made all tourist destinations in and around Pune, like Tiger Point, Khadakwasla dam, Bushy dam, Rajgad Fort, and Malshej, amoing others, out of bounds for visitors.

Deshmukh said, “We are at level 3 and all of Maharashtra is in the same category. So according to directions of the government, we have banned entry of tourists to these spots. There is a huge floating population visiting hotels and resorts, but we are not stopping them. Areas where crowds can gather in large numbers are being made out of bounds for visitors.”

The Lonavla city police have also cordoned the Naval Garden area on the way to Bhushi dam. Thousands of tourists had arrived in Lonavala last week, leading to a four-km traffic jam on the old Mumbai-Pune highway.