The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) along with the Navi Mumbai police made a surprise visit at the agriculture produce market committee (APMC) on Wednesday and Thursday morning and fined more than 500 people for violating COVID-19 norms. Those found violating norms laid down to prevent the spread of COVID 19 included traders, mathadi workers, visitors and truck drivers.
Early this week, the civic chief Abhijit Bangar had made a surprise visit to the market complex and directed APMC administration to adhere to COVID-19 norms to avoid the lockdown.
Five markets namely spice, onion-potato, vegetables, fruits and grain market, witness around 50000 visitors everyday.
In the past, APMC was the epicenter of COVID-19 cases. Suresh Mengade, deputy commissioner of police (zone 1) said, “There were reports of COVID-19 norms violation at the market complex for the past few days. It was a joint visit of civic body and police on Wednesday and Thursday.”
He added that they took action against more than 500 people during the two days special drive. The NMMC officials collected the fines from citizens for not wearing face masks. “We also registered offenses wherever we spotted large groups of people who had not maintained social distance,” said Mengde.
According to the NMMC sources, the Covid-19 cases have increased by 45% in Navi Mumbai in the past two weeks.
Sanjay Kakade, additional commissioner of NMMC said, “Our teams are also inspecting the different private functions and penalizing people who are violating the norms. We appeal to the residents to cooperate with us and help prevent the spread of Covid-19.”
