The Greater Chennai Corporation and the police identified 26 multistoried retail showrooms that failed to regulate crowding and violated norms pertaining to COVID-19.
Corporation officials collected a fine of ₹3.3 lakh from these showrooms on Saturday. The civic officials also checked 1,613 marriage halls and hotels and penalised 39 of the businesses for violating norms. The raid was conducted at many locations of the city following complaints from residents. The corporation penalised 6,130 business operators during the period between May 1, 2021 to July 9, 2021 for violating physical distancing norms. A total of 30,755 persons were penalised for not following norms.
A fine of ₹3.3 crore was collected from the violators.
After relaxation of lockdown, residents from various localities started calling corporation helpline 1913 to report violations.
On Saturday, most of the complaints were received from T. Nagar and Padi, where high-rise buildings of retail outlets are located. Crowding in many outlets have increased significantly because of inadequate regulations.
The officials have advised the retailers to prevent crowding on the premises.
The civic body did not lock or seal the shops.
It will also collect samples for testing at crowded areas from persons who have symptoms of COVID-19.
At least 27,000 samples are being tested in the 15 zones of the city every day to detect the third wave. The positivity rate in shops has remained low for the past few weeks.
