In the wake of the spike in Covid-19 cases in Assam, Kamrup (M) district administration has decided to make the wearing of masks mandatory for the city residents.
The district administration is planning to impose fines on those not wearing masks.
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Kamrup (M) DC Biswajit Pegu said that the district will make the wearing of masks mandatory.
“We have decided in a meeting on Friday that wearing masks will be compulsory in the district. If people don’t wear masks in public, the authorities will impose a penalty of Rs 500 for the first and Rs 1,000 for the second offence and subsequent violations,” Pegu told reporters in Guwahati.
He said that the fine is also applicable to those caught not wearing masks properly.
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Last year, during the peak of the pandemic, the Gauhati High Court ordered a crackdown on those violating Covid-19 safety norms by directing the state police to be “proactive on the streets” and punish those not wearing masks or maintaining social distance.
The number of new cases in Kamrup (M) started climbing from 33 on April 1 to 153 on Friday.
However, doctors said some “irresponsible” comments from politicians and flouting of all Covid-19 safety protocols during the feverish election campaign, caused more harm to the situation it and it is now difficult to make people aware of the masks.
“People listen to political leaders and the government. If someone in the government says you don’t need to wear a mask, definitely that will have an impact on people. Leaders should lead the way and not set a bad example,” Dr. Rashna Dass Hazarika, a city-based pediatrician, said.
Earlier in the last week, Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that wearing a mask in public is no longer necessary as coronavirus has gone from the state.