Stepping out? Better wear a mask

BBMP deploys marshals to ensure Covid safety protocols are observed in public places

By Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has formed special teams of marshals to ensure Covid Appropriate Behaviour at crowded locations in the city to contain the spread of coronavirus.To ensure that the public follows the norms, the BBMP has formed teams to create awareness as well as penalise those who fail to follow the CAB in the city. “We have formed 54 special teams by withdrawing marshals working at Indira Canteens. Two special teams have been allocated for each of the Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru to enforce the CAB,” said BBMP Chief Marshal Col Rajbeer Singh.

The special teams have been dispatched to various areas in the city including Kempe Gowda Bus Station, KR Market, Russel Market, Halasuru Market, Railway Stations, and malls. According to Col Rajbeer Singh, the first team of marshals begin work from 6 am to 2 pm, while the second one starts working from 2 pm to 8 pm in each Assembly constituency.

Due to Omicron virus fears, more people have begun wearing face masks and observing other precautions in the city. The special teams of BBMP marshals have issued tickets to 402 people and collected Rs 1,00,500 as a penalty on November 28 from those not wearing face masks. They have issued tickets to 405 people and collected Rs 1,01,250 for not maintaining social distance in the city on Sunday.

South Zone leads the list in number of violations with 116 people penalised for not wearing face mask, followed by East Zone (95), Shivajinagar and Basavanagudi (26 violations each), Yelahanka and Dasarahalli (15 violations each), while Pulakeshinagar and Yelahanka have reported least number of violations (seven in each zone).

However, on Monday there was a drastic fall in the number of people penalised for not wearing face masks (244). West Zone leads the list with 163 people being penalised, followed by RR Nagar (30), while no violation was reported in Yelahanka.

Only 27 people were penalised for not maintaining social distance on Monday. RR Nagar is in the first place with 25 violations, there were only two violations in the South Zone. No violation of social distancing norms was reported in East Zone, West Zone, Mahadevapura, Yelahanka, Dasarahalli and Bommanahalli.