Mask violations: Police enforcement lacks sting in Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: Even as the markets and public places are abuzz with activity during the festive season, the number of fines issued by the district police against people

Ghaziabad: Even as the markets and public places are abuzz with activity during the festive season, the number of fines issued by the district police against people not wearing face masks has dipped to its lowest level in the past two months.

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The situation seems to be moving out of hands as residents are openly flouting the Covid-19 protocols amid the rising number of cases. This is despite repeated directions by state government to the western UP districts for taking all measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, especially in the wake of a surge in cases in Delhi.

However, officials of the district police said that they will intensify the drive.

On Wednesday, Ghaziabad recorded 136 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 20,071 in the district, according to the state control room records. The district now has 1,223 active cases.

As regards the enforcement against mask violations, the official records, sourced through the district administration, revealed that the police penalised 60,680 people for not wearing face masks during the period from May 1 to November 6.

The police penalised 2,131 people in May, 17,917 in June, 20,936 in July and 11,410 in August. However, the drive went haywire in the past two months -- September and October -- when the police issued 5,779 and 2,353 challans, respectively, against persons not wearing face masks. Also, in the first six days of November, the number of such challans stood at just 154, shows the data.

When contacted, Kalanidhi Naithani, senior superintendent of police, said, “We will soon intensify the drive against persons not wearing face masks.”

Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate, said, “We have started with a drive in different police station areas where teams will check and penalise people if they are found not wearing face masks. We will intensify the enforcement activities.”

Traders said that they have decided not to attend customers who come without wearing masks. “During the times of festival season, we have about 25,000-30,000 people coming daily to the market. About 50% of them come without masks and roam around without anyone questioning them. On our part, we have decided not to attend customers who come without wearing masks. We have kept surgical masks at our shops and give them to our customers free of cost if they visit without a mask,” said Rajneesh Bansal, chairperson of Turab Nagar Vyapar Mandal.

Experts said that face mask, social distancing and hand-washing are the only means to prevent the Covid-19 spread till the time a vaccine becomes available.

“This is the time when people need to take the highest level of precaution as repeatedly advised by the government. Otherwise, the winter season is most conducive for respiratory infections and any Covid infection will aggravate health conditions. According to my estimate, about 50% people do not use masks in markets and public places, and the number could be higher,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, president of Indian Medical Association – Ghaziabad.

“It is so because of lack of awareness and enforcement. Strict enforcement is needed as there is overcrowding in markets and people are flouting norms openly,” Agarwal added.

The Ghaziabad district has an estimated population of about 44 lakh.

On Tuesday, Alok Kumar, UP principal secretary (health) yet again reiterated that wearing of face masks, adhering to social distancing and frequent hand-washing is must to keep Covid-19 infection at bay. “There has been surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi and some of our western UP districts are also affected. So, it is vital that people take all precautions and wear face masks and adhere to social distancing,” he added.