Coronavirus: Police check travellers for home quarantine stamps on Mumbai-Pune expressway

The state government on Friday began conducting manual checks on Mumbai-Pune expressway to stop commuters with the home quarantine seal on hands from travelling.

The state government on Friday began conducting manual checks on Mumbai-Pune expressway to stop commuters with the home quarantine seal on hands from travelling.

HT Image

The decision was taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection after several citizens with a travel history to the virus-affected countries, who have been asked to follow home quarantine for 14 days, have been flouting the rule and travelling on trains or buses and even taking part in social engagements. Mumbai, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad regions are the worst affected in the state.

Speaking to HT, divisional commissioner of Pune, Deepak Mhaiskar, said, “As per instructions [from the state], we have decided to deploy a special police force to track stamped travellers at Panvel and Lonavala toll plazas from Friday.”

Mhaiskar said commuters will also be asked about their travel history and quarantine history and thermal scanning of such travellers will also be conducted. The information about such travellers will also be shared with their respective district administration to keep a tab on them. He added that those found violating the home quarantine rules will be forcefully sent to the institutional quarantine facility.

CR, WR see dip in passenger count

Central Railway (CR) witnessed a dip in passenger count from an average of 45 lakh travelling everyday to 26 lakh on Thursday. On Western Railway (WR), only around 21 lakh passengers commuted on Thursday as compared to around 37 lakh passengers other days.