The state government has restored the power of the BBMP Marshals to enforce the rules that make wearing masks mandatory in public spaces and fix a penalty of Rs 200 on the violators.
Marshals have been instrumental in enforcing the rule made by the the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which had fixed the penalty at Rs 1000. However, the state government's notification that came days later not only reduced the penalty to Rs 200 but gave the power to impose penalty to the helath inspectors.
The poor enforcement, reported by DH on June 5, was visible in the number of people penalised for the violation. The BBMP marshalls collected Rs 1,000 penalty on 197 people on May 3, when people's movement was highly restricted.
In the days that followed, the lockdown measures were relaxed, allowing more people to come out but the enforcement collapsed. Only 18 persons were fined per day for not wearing masks in public space.
Senior officials had raised the issue to the BBMP commissioner, expressing concerns over a high number of people not wearing masks. The matter was escalated to the state government last week. Following, this the marshals are back on duty.
On Monday, a notification to this effect was issued by Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department and Medical Education Department. "The government hereby authorises the marhals of the BBMP to enforce provisions," it added.