VIJAYAWADA: Rapid and mobile teams of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) have so far collected a fine worth Rs 1.35 lakh from 800 persons caught without face masks, violating physical distancing norms and spitting in public places. The civic body has started imposing penalties on such violators from April 22.
VMC Assistant Medical and Health Officer (AMOH) R Venkata Ramana on Saturday said the civic body has appointed rapid and mobile teams on May 6 to strictly enforce the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directives — to make spitting a punishable offence.
These teams have set up three check-posts at Chitti Nagar Junction, Dabba Kottala Centre (Ajith Singh Nagar) and Benz Circle. A penalty of Rs 100 has been collected from 500 persons for not wearing masks and Rs 1,000 from the remaining for spitting in public places and Rs 100 for not maintaining social distance. This apart, a mobile vehicle was deployed to roam around the city and keep an eye on those not following the MHA norms, he informed.
The AMHO elaborated the Chitti Nagar team collected `33,750, AS Nagar team `16,050 and Benz Circle team `19,200, respectively. A mobile team, which carried out surprise inspections across the city, collected `66,200 as penalty. “Though the VMC is imposing penalties, still a section of people are not following them. The teams will intensify the drive in the coming days across the city. The people should be more responsible and follow the guidelines in letter and spirit,” Venkata Ramana added.