NEW DELHI: Enforcement drives by district authorities have surged along with the rise in Covid-19 cases this month. In the first 12 days of January, fines of nearly Rs 12 crore were imposed through over 5,000 challans on average daily for violation of safety norms.
Between January 1 and 12, a total of 60,047 challans were issued by the 11 revenue districts. Of these, 58,170 were for not wearing face masks. In all, 1,301 challans were issued for not maintaining social distancing and for large gatherings and 576 for spitting or consumption of liquor, pan, gutkha, tobacco, etc in public places.
The authorities also registered 564 FIRs for different violations and imposed fines of Rs 11.8 crore, even though only Rs 84.2 lakh had been recovered till now.
A Delhi government official said 156 enforcement teams with 129 vehicles carry out the enforcement drives. “All district officials hold regular meetings with RWAs and traders’ associations. Potential super-spreader areas like markets are strictly monitored,” he added.
Apart from challans being issued to people, the authorities also cracked down upon shops and markets where enforcement teams found that norms, such as opening shops on odd-even basis or maintaining social distancing, were being violated.
From a high of more than 2 lakh challans issued in July 2021, the number dipped to 1.8 lakh in August and around 1.7 lakh in September. Around 1.3 lakh challans were issued in October and 1.1 lakh in November 2021.
When Covid-19 cases and test positivity rate started going up in December 2021, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) directed the district authorities to crack down on violations in a meeting chaired by the lieutenant governor.
The number of challans went up from 3,500-3,700 at the beginning of December to nearly 5,000 by the year-end. December saw more than 1.2 lakh challans worth Rs 24 lakh being issued. January, however, has seen more than 5,000 challans being issued on average every day, with popular clubs, bars, shops and markets being closed for violation of norms.
