PUNE: The number of defaulters caught in the city for spitting in public places has increased eight-fold in the last one month since coronavirus positive cases have begun to be spotted in the city.
Between March 1 and 18, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has taken action against 887 defaulters, charging them with a total fine of over Rs 1 lakh. Contrary to that, in the last month (February), the total number of people caught for spitting in public was just 102.
“We began taking much stricter action against those who spit in public places since we started finding COVID-19 cases in the city,” said Head of PMC Solid Waste Management Department Dnyaneshwar Molak.
“COVID-19 is a contagious disease and it can certainly spread through spit. While the government is taking so many steps to combat and prevent the disease from spreading, we need to make people aware so that they stop spitting at public places. That is our main aim behind imposing fines on people,” he added. In the last one year, the PMC has imposed a fine of over Rs 5 lakh on 4,167 defaulters caught spitting on the road.
