Delhi: West, north districts with crowded markets saw most mask-rule violation in festive season
In light of the data review, Delhi Police officers said the two districts have a larger number of much-favoured markets, such as Sadar Bazaar and Kamla Nagar, and these marketplaces had seen huge crowds since Dussehra till Diwali.
The most number of mask rule violations this festive season was reported from west and north Delhi districts of the national capital, show police data, unlike the month before that, when the most number of such violations was reported from south and south-west Delhi.
In light of the data review, Delhi Police officers said the two districts have a larger number of much-favoured markets, such as Sadar Bazaar and Kamla Nagar, and these marketplaces had seen huge crowds since Dussehra till Diwali.
According to the data seen by HT, between October 23 (two days before Dussehra) and November 10 (four days before Diwali), police fined 5,018 persons in west Delhi for violating the mask rule, while they fined 4,991 persons in north Delhi. South and south-west Delhi reported 4741 and 2163 instances, respectively, during the same period.
Overall, until November 24, police had fined 506, 272 persons across Delhi for not wearing masks.
North district comprises marketplaces such as Kamla Nagar, Maurice Nagar and Sadar Bazaar and until two months ago, this district did not figure in the top three or four districts with the maximum number of violations as people were mostly avoiding crowded places, and also, the Covid-19 vigil was more heightened in public places. The same was the case with west Delhi that houses markets such as Tilak Nagar and Rajouri Garden, police said.
But all that changed when the festive season approached. A senior police officer, who wished not to be named, said, “West and north topped the list during the recent review period as they have a number of bust markets. Markets such as Tilak Nagar and Rajouri Garden in west Delhi saw huge crowds in the days before Diwali. In north Delhi, too, Sadar Bazaar and Kamla Nagar were alarmingly crowded. At one point, our officers on the ground were outnumbered by the massive crowd.”
As predicted by government agencies, the increase in Delhi’s Covid-19 deaths and daily positive cases has coincided with the festive season, when more people had stepped out of homes and were casual in their adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour.
To ensure that people comply with the mask rule, the Delhi government last Friday increased the penalty for mask rule violations from ₹500 to ₹2,000.
The district-wise police’s prosecution data shows that between June 15 (the day when police started issuing fines) and November 10, the west district has topped the list with 53,970 violations, followed by south district with 51,476.
Between June 15 and July 3 -- when the data was reviewed for the first time by senior police officers to understand the pattern of violations -- it was the south-west district that had topped the list with 2,699 violations. North district was then ranked fifth, while west Delhi was 11th.
Commenting on people not following rules in Sadar Bazaar Market -- the photographs of the crowded market had gone viral on social media -- Devraj Baweja, president, Confederation of Sadar Bazaar Trader Association, said, “There were encroachments on roads and lanes due to which there was little space available for shoppers. Even so, the crowds were excessive during the festival. The casual attitude of the public towards the pandemic also resulted in violations. We are now ensuring that such violations do not happen. The encroachments have been removed and shoppers are told to wear masks before entering the market.”
While the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had on October 8 warned that Delhi could report 15,000 daily cases during the festive season, the cases reached a maximum of 8,593 on November 11. Delhi is currently reporting between 5,000 and 7,500 new cases daily. The state government had called the rise in cases as the third wave of the virus infection and asked people to wear masks and maintain social distancing. On Tuesday, Delhi saw 6,224 new Covid-19 cases, and 109 deaths.
In west Delhi, Ramesh Khanna, president, Rajouri Garden Market Traders Association, said the association has been donating masks to shoppers. “We have deployed security guards in the market to conduct random inspections and urge people to wear their masks properly. We ensure that every shop has sanitisers and shopkeepers also keep extra masks handy. We have made all arrangements,”
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