SHILLONG: The city Traffic Police launched a major drive at Khyndailad crossings in the downtown area here on Friday to check the wanton flouting of health advisories and protocols by motorists. It not just resulted in the detection of 137 cases of violations but also led to recovery of nearly Rs 75,000 as spot penalty.
In sharp contrast though, the government appears to be magnanimous when it comes to violation of the mandatory wearing of masks, a key defence against the novel coronavirus; it is content leaving it to the people’s sense of responsibility.
The drive against motorists sent an immediate message all across that police mean business when it comes to slapdash violation of health protocols.
The nature of infringements included those plying vehicles on outdated curfew passes, exceeding the permissible number of occupants in a four-wheeler and indulging in simple joy rides with no passes at all.
“Is it ignorance or they do it purposely I don’t understand, but we will catch anyone flouting the norms”, SP (City) BD Marak said while warning that police would be intensifying checking against such flagrant violations.
During the checking, excess occupants were asked to alight from the vehicle and made to walk to their destinations. A good number of two-wheelers were also penalised for carrying pillion riders.
“The war against COVID cannot be fought by the government alone, the community also needs to contribute by behaving responsibly”, Marak observed.
According to the traffic advisories, a four-wheeler is permitted to carry three passengers, while two-wheelers are allowed to take as pillion rider a child up to the age of 12 years.
Up to people
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said wearing of masks is mandatory and it is the responsibility of each and every citizen of the state.
“It is not necessary that the government has to step in and it is not necessary that the police have to resort to lathi charge on this”, he said.
He also said that the government has been reminding and requesting the citizens to take care of themselves.
Several states have imposed fines for not wearing masks, and recently police in Assam realised Rs 60,000 in a single day by way of fines from people for not wearing masks.
“No one can take care of us unless we do it ourselves. The fight against this virus is not of the government alone but of each and every citizen of the state”, Tynsong said.
Meanwhile, a police official during an informal discussion said that the police may urge the government to pass an order under which a person without a mask would have to pay a fine of Rs 500.
Meanwhile, the Health and Family Welfare department is drafting regulations to ensure that people strictly abide by the various advisories and protocols relating to COVID-19.
“We are on the job to prepare the regulations. We will take some time since the Law department is also involved. We will be finalising the regulations in the next few days,” Director of Health Services (MI), Dr. Aman War told reporters on Friday.
“Regulations are needed since people are not strictly following the advisories to maintain social distancing or wearing face masks in public places. It is witnessed that there is blatant violation of the various advisories issued by the department by the people. Putting in place such regulations to reduce gatherings could help”, he said.
