BENGALURU: The BBMP has slapped a fine Rs 20,000 against Garuda Mall for allegedly not following proper Covid-19 protocols in screening visitors. BBMP officials had undertaken an inspection of various malls in Bengaluru to ensure that Covid guidelines were being followed according to a directive issued by Palike recently, which also highlighted the need for malls to ensure that visitors were double-vaccinated before entry. Garuda Mall has been slapped with a fine for failing to do so.
“We had conducted an inspection at Garuda Mall last week, where everything was being followed. But yesterday (Saturday), we found that they haven’t been checking if visitors were double vaccinated. In addition, staffers at the outlets were not masked and social distancing guidelines were not followed,” BBMP Chief Health Officer Dr. Balasundar A S said.
He said that following the issuance of the directive, BBMP had organised a demonstration for the malls on how to check vaccine status. “The order had been given a few weeks ago, and the checking itself barely takes a minute per person, so there is no excuse for failure to check if the visitors are vaccinated or not,” he said.
“This was the first incident, so we have fined them a small amount as a warning to other malls if the orders are not followed. We plan on issuing much heavier fines in the future if malls are found not checking vaccination certificates, and ensuring if proper protocols are followed,” he said.
Apart from Garuda Mall, Esteem Mall in Hebbal was also issued a warning as they had not been following the guidelines satisfactorily. “Proper checking wasn’t done at the mall,” Dr. Balasundar said.