Mumbai: In view of the rise in the number of active cases across Mumbai and a possible COVID-19 second wave, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday announced that from next week, civic marshals will be handing out free masks to those not wearing masks at public places.

The BMC currently imposes a fine of Rs 200 on those who are not wearing masks. Now this will be followed by handing out free masks in order to create awareness among violators about the importance of masks.

"It has been observed that many people would pay the fine and repeat the same mistake which is why the BMC has taken this step" civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal told in a statement on Sunday.

The BMC has collected around Rs 10.07 crores in fines by penalising nearly 4.85 violators since the unlocking took place. During september the civic body had reduced the fine amount to Rs 200 from Rs 2,000 as more people had started to come out on roads due to unlocking.

"We have observed that many people don't wear a mask while they have while there are some who don't carry mask with them as they step out. This step will allow us to educate the later category of people regarding the importance of wearing a mask" a senior civic official told FPJ.