District administration recommends imposition of Section 144 in Pune

With 16 positive cases of coronavirus being reported from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, five of them being local first contacts, the district administration has recommended

With 16 positive cases of coronavirus being reported from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, five of them being local first contacts, the district administration has recommended imposition of Section 144, of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in some areas, to the police commissioner to prevent the spread of the infection further.

HT Image

The recommendation was given to the civic body commissioners of both the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), who would then specify the areas to the police commissioner who would issue an order for its implementation.

District collector Naval Kishore Ram said that the decision is being considered positively and that a decision is likely to be taken soon. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) authorises the executive magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assembly of four or more people in an area. Significantly, at least four cases in Pune are the “first contacts” as they had not travelled to foreign countries, said the divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar.

Meanwhile, after verbal complaints of harassment of family members of the infected persons coming to the fore, the district administration has now issued a circular stating that every chairman, secretary, member of the society committee and citizen is informed that no form of boycott must be imposed on either the patient or their family members and that if any such case comes forward, then, strict action would be taken under the Disaster Management Act 2005 and the Act 188 of the Indian Penal Code. Divisional commissioner Mhaisekar further said that any person who is infected or is recommended home isolation, but does not take necessary precaution would be forced for an institutional quarantine.

He emphasised that strict action would be taken against those who spread rumors or false news regarding the spread of Covid-19.

Although schools and colleges are shut, students should not be forced to leave their hostels, said district collector Ram.

A website and an app has been prepared to keep track of those recommended home isolation and for the doctors who might get such patients. Both doctors and patients can register themselves on idsp.mkcl.org to update the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme which is under the central ministry, said Ram.

With regards to doctors, they can notify the IDSP about any suspected patient with a travel history and they would be guided accordingly, added Ram.

Shutting of restaurants

Popular hotels like Vaishali and Roopali on FC road too are likely to face the brunt of Covid-19. When asked if the district administration is likely to take any decision on shutting down these restaurants, Mhaisekar said, “Under Section 144, crowded places will not be allowed to operate and so, we will decide on whether such restaurants, where huge number of people come to eat, should be shut or not.”