BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police initiated action against 9,400 people between Wednesday and Thursday morning for mask and social distancing violations as part of a 10-day special drive against the Covid-19 guideline violators.
"Over Rs 25 lakh fine has been collected from the violators in the last 24 hours. About 136 platoons of the police force have been engaged in the entire State to intensify the Covid-19 enforcement measures. District SPs, DCPs, and senior officers are leading the drive," said a police official.
While Bhubaneswar urban police district initiated action against 547 persons and collected Rs 61,950 fine for social distancing violation, Cuttack urban police district took action against 419 violators for not maintaining distance and collected Rs 24,650 fine.
The enforcement related to wearing masks has been intensified across the State and many police districts initiated action against over 300 violators each.
Bhadrak Police initiated action against 823 mask violators and collected Rs 1.64 lakh fine, followed by Cuttack district, which took action against 696 mask violators and collected Rs 1.17 lakh fine.
Cuttack urban police district fined 533 mask violators and collected Rs 42,850 from them and Puri police took action against 475 violators and realized a fine of Rs 55,500 in the last 24 hours.
As part of the drive, Puri police on Wednesday enhanced the enforcement activities around Sun Temple in Konark and asked the shopkeepers to ensure that Covid appropriate behaviour was being followed.
The police have requested everyone to follow the Covid appropriate behaviour in the State. Experts have pointed out that wearing a mask and keeping even a distance of three feet significantly decreases the spread of the coronavirus from one person to another. At six feet, the risk decreases even further.
Amid the spurt in Covid-19 cases in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had directed the authorities to launch a special enforcement drive between April 7 and 16 to contain the spread of the infection.