Since launching the recent mass drive of penalising 20,000 people per day found not wearing masks, in the past five days, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has acted against over 25,000 persons and collected over Rs 43 lakh in fines.

The BMC was very lenient against those not wearing masks in the early months of the lockdown. It acted on average against 12 persons per day in July and August, even after municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal issued a fresh order on June 29 for stringent action. In September, after a proposal from the Solid Waste Department, the commissioner reduced the fine from Rs 1,000 to Rs 200. The BMC team penalised around 26,000 citizens, an average of 950 persons per day, in a period of a month. But still many wandered in public places without masks.