In an effort aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring that the city continues to have zero corona positive cases, the Coimbatore Corporation will deploy officers to make sure that people follow safety precautions.
Corporation Commissioner Sravan Kumar Jatavath told The Hindu on Tuesday that the civic body would deploy officers across the 100 wards in the city to ensure that people wore masks when they were on streets and maintained physical distance.
The Corporation took the decision to ensure that the city was free of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and people continued to adhere to the safety precautions as there seemed to be some laxity in following them.
The Corporation’s patrol teams would be similar to the patrol teams that the police deployed to maintain law and order. The vehicles would have public address systems to encourage people to maintain physical distance. And, the officers in the vehicles would hand over masks and also fine violators.
The objective was not to fine the violators to shore up revenue, but to ensure that people abided by the safety precautions, he reiterated.
Mr. Jatavath also said that he would soon be assigning areas to each officer, who would be patrolling the city in addition to doing their routine work.
He also said the Corporation had written to the Coimbatore City Police requesting their help in the effort.
Meanwhile, Collector K. Rajamani, in a release, urged people to use masks saying that it was important to maintain the situation that the district had seen no COVID-19 positive case in the last two weeks. Mr. Rajamani said that people entering the district would have to undergo 14-day quarantine and warned of action against those violating the norms.
