India / ₹2k fine in Delhi for spitting in public places, violating social distancing rules

New Delhi: The Delhi Government, on Friday, 20 November, announced a penalty for those caught violating quarantine rules, social distancing norms or chewing and spitting tobacco and pan masala.

According to ANI, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) amended the Delhi Epidemic Disease Management of COVID-19 Regulations 2020, and empowered “authorised persons” to impose a fine of Rs 2000 for violation of quarantine rules, social distancing norms, not wearing face masks and consumption of pan, gutka, etc., in public places.

This development comes a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that a fine of Rs 2,000 will be imposed on anyone who is found not wearing a mask in public, soon after he held an all-party meeting to discuss the situation arising out of the COVID-19 spike in the national capital.

BACKGROUND

The national capital is presently battling a sharp spike in COVID-19 case, and experts believe that the dismal pollution levels in the city have also made matters worse.

The cases in Delhi had reached an all-time high of 8,593 on 11 November. Since then, fewer cases have reported over the next few days, but on some days, the number of tests conducted was far lesser than the usual.

On Wednesday, 19 November, the health data also showed that the number of fatalities recorded over the last 24 hours was 131, which is the highest single-day count in the national capital till date and pushes the total number of deaths to 7,943.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had on Wednesday approved the Delhi government’s proposal to allow only 50 guests to attend a wedding, instead of the earlier limit of 200.