Exactly a day after the Tamil Nadu government unveiled a fresh set of COVID-19 restrictions in the state to curb the resurgence of the pandemic, the civic bodies of Chennai and Coimbatore have on Friday announced that the people whoever found to be violating the COVID-19 norms will be fined. What has to be noted is that the Greater Chennai Corporation has set a target of collecting fines. 

The restrictions unveiled by the state government would come into effect on April 10 and will be in place till April 30. With the view of containing the second wave of the pandemic, the government has brought back the restrictions that were in place six months back and some of them include directing the theaters and malls to operate at 50% of capacity and restricting the cultural and religious events. The government has also appealed to the people to adhere to the guidelines and protocols. 

In line with that, the civic bodies of Chennai and Coimbatore have announced that a fine will be imposed on the people who defy the guidelines to ensure that everyone follows the guidelines. According to reports, the Greater Chennai Corporation has on Friday announced that whoever does not wear a mask will be fined Rs 200 and those who find spitting in public places have to pay Rs 500. A penalty of Rs 500 will also be imposed on those who fail to maintain adequate physical distancing in public places. 

People who defy the quarantine rules would be fined Rs 500. The drive of imposing fine has come to the effect on Friday and the reports say that the Chennai Corporation has fixed the target for collecting fine. The authorities in Chennai are directed to impose a fine to the tune of Rs 10 lakh per day on the residents who would be found violating the guidelines. The fine target differs in every zone and Royapuram and Teynampet zones are imposed with the maximum target of collecting Rs 1.50 lakh from the residents per day. 

The corporation further said that if the establishments, including salon, gyms, and spas, are found to be functioning after the prescribed time would be slapped a fine of Rs 5000. As far as Coimbatore is concerned, the civic body of the western district has announced a penalty of Rs 500 for anybody who is found without a mask within its limits. It also has announced that any commercial establishment found violating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the state government will be sealed for one week.

It must be also noted that the Tamil Nadu Petrol Traders Association has announced that fuel will not be sold to customers who do not wear masks. In a statement, the association stated that this decision will come into effect on April 10. These restrictions have come when the state has been recording an exponential rise of COVID-19 cases for the past few days. On Thursday, the state has witnessed over 4,000 cases for the first time in 2021. 

The state has reported 4,276 fresh cases on Thursday, 1,869 discharges, and 19 deaths. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 9,15,386 COVID-19 cases so far as of Thursday of which 30,131 are active, 8,72,415 have been discharged, and 12, 840 had succumbed to the viral infection.