BHUBANESWAR: With malls and markets in the State capital getting crowded ahead of Dussehra, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to carry out surprise checks and track information shared on social media to crack down on commercial establishments violating Covid-19 guidelines.
With the city still recording over 100 positive cases daily, poor compliance to norms has emerged as a major cause of concern for the civic body. As the markets are expected to get more crowded in the coming days, the civic body has planned surprise raids at malls during the festive season, said BMC additional commissioner Laxmikanta Sethi.
He said BMC is also keeping track of complaints and grievances relating to Covid norms violation on social media especially Twitter. The civic body has already issued guidelines for Durga Puja celebration in the city. In a bid to manage crowd at public places and market areas, the civic body has increased the number of its squads from the existing four to 13. Nine such squads have been formed under deputy commissioners of South-East, North and South-West zones to carry out enforcement activities especially during evening.
“We have also asked traders and owners of shopping outlets to ensure mandatory use of mask and social distancing on their premises,” Sethi said. Large shopping outlets and commercial establishments have been advised to allow entry of customers in a segregated manner. “They have been advised to allow entry of maximum 50 person into their premises at any point of time,” he said.