The Navi Mumbai police took action a total of 113 revellers for visiting different picnic spots violating the norms over the weekend, imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also collected Rs 34,100 fine from them. The Rabale MIDC police alone fined as many as 61 revellers for visiting the Gavli Dev waterfall.
Last week on July 18, the Kharghar police and the fire brigade had rescued a total of 116 revellers after a two hours long operation in Kharghar Hill after they were stuck following heavy rainfall. The level of water had risen in a stream due to incessant rainfalls and it became difficult for revellers to cross it.
Nitin Geete, senior inspector of Rabale MIDC police station said, “A huge number of people from Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai come to the waterfall and many of them are violating the Covid 19 norms. Therefore, we raided the site on Saturday and Sunday and penalized these people. We fined 6 people for not wearing face masks, 28 people for not maintaining social distance and 27 others for different violations under Motor Vehicle Act,” said Gite.
The Kharghar police, on the other hand, took action against a total of 52 people for visiting Pandavkada waterfall and other picnic spots around the hills on Sunday. The forest department had banned entry to these places in June.
Shatrughna Mali, senior inspector of Kharghar police station said, “Since these areas are prohibited, entry to them itself is an offense. Therefore, in a joint operation with the traffic department, we penalized these people and collected Rs 500 from each of them.”
Kharghar police have dedicated a total of 20 officials only to keep a tab on the hilly areas, as a huge number of people from across Mumbai are trying to enter them since the onset of the monsoon.
