Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asked police to “strongly” deal with people without masks.
“I will ask the police to strongly handle this matter. A number of people are not listening to advice. They are not wearing masks,” she said. “There are people who take the mask in their pockets before going to a restaurant. They wear the mask before entering a restaurant as they will not be allowed entry. But these same people do not wear masks on the road.”
Following the chief minister’s prod, Calcutta police have decided to stop people without masks on the road and take down their address to initiate legal proceedings against them. “People found in public places without a mask will be stopped and photographed by our personnel. Their address and phone numbers will be noted. Their details would be sent to the court for legal proceedings...,” said an officer.
A cop urges a woman to wear a mask in New Market Pradip Sanyal
The police will start making announcements in markets from Friday asking people not to loiter around without any reason. “Although there is no restriction in the timings of markets, we will request people not to loiter around without any reason,” said an officer in Lalbazar.
In 2020, the government had restricted the market timings amid lockdowns and it was easier for the police to prosecute anyone outside beyond those hours.
As there are no such restrictions on movement during daytime now, the cops would request the people to not stay in market places for a long duration. “But we will show zero tolerance towards people without masks and will prosecute them on the spot,” said a police officer.
Mamata urged people that they should remember they can go on to infect their family members or friends. “We have to remember that if we get infected, we may then go on to infect our family members and friends,” she said.
Metro has reported multiple times how a number of people still do not wear masks in public places.
Public health experts have repeatedly said wearing masks and maintaining social distance were two very important measures that can prevent people from getting infected with Covid.