The Delhi government imposed over Rs 154 crore in fines for COVID-19 violations between 2021 and 2022, with the maximum fines being imposed for not wearing masks in public places.
According to official data available for the period between April 17, 2021, and April 6, 2022, the fine imposed during the period stood at Rs 1,54,75,22,968 but the amount collected was only Rs 16,79,27,080.
A total of 37,809 FIRs were registered for various Covid violations, with the New Delhi (37,803) district contributing the major chunk. There were five FIRs registered in the south district while a single FIR was lodged in the southwest district. Three people were arrested for violating Covid protocols, according to the data.
There were zero FIRs registered in the remaining eight districts.
The maximum number of fines were issued for not wearing a mask in public places with the highest number of such offences being recorded in Shahdara district (1,85,354), followed by the east (1,84,618) and north district (1,78,563).
The least number of such offenders were found in the Central district (80,496). New Delhi (90,293) and south (91,572) districts also recorded less than lakh violations, the data said.
Last week, the Delhi government issued an order stating that no fine will be imposed anymore on people for not wearing face masks in the national capital. However, the order advised people to continue wearing masks in public places.
A total of 70,932 violations were recorded for not following social distancing guidelines, with the maximum being recorded in the north district (27,823), followed by the west (14,328) and northeast (14,310) districts respectively.
The Northwest district recorded zero such violations while only three cases of people not adhering to COVID-19 protocols came to light in the south district. New Delhi (403), South West (117) and Shahdara (148) recorded less than 500 such violations while Central Delhi recorded 752 such instances.
North East district saw the maximum number of large gatherings/congregations being held in violation of coronavirus protocols at 530, followed by the southwest district (85). West district saw eight such instances while three such instances were reported from the southeast district, according to data.
There were no large congregations/gatherings held in the remaining seven districts including New Delhi, which houses Jantar Mantar.
The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28,867 on January 13 this year during the third wave of the pandemic.
The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the third wave of the pandemic which was largely due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
In April and May last year, Delhi had reeled under a brutal second wave of coronavirus with the shortage of beds and life-saving oxygen contributing to people's woes.
